Thank you to all our donors for their fantastic support to our Winter Appeal. Our goal was to raise a net $850,000 to help families on the edge get through another tough winter. By the beginning of August, we had already netted close to $920,000!

Matt Harden, one of our Community Care Managers, reports that the donations have been very welcome. As you read this article, you have probably received your energy bill for the Winter quarter. Please spare a thought for some of the people we will be helping who have no means  to meet their costs.

Matt says that for some they have been playing a continual game of putting off one bill in order to meet a previously overdue one. He has seen four people in the Moss Vale office, one of the coldest parts of our state, who between them have accumulated over $9,000 in energy bills. One alone faces a bill of $3,600! “Some people simply don’t know how to cope with life’s expenses once they fall behind. That is why we are working to help them with their immediate needs as well as trying to give them the means to get out of the holes they are in,” says Matt.

It has been heartening to see such a great response from our donors. Without this, we simply could not have helped as many people as we did over this winter. Yet, please keep praying for our workers, like Matt on the front line.