Fashion, Fundraising and Community

The 56th Red Cross Bindaring clothing sale held on Saturday 18 May raised $191,590.00 to support Red Cross. The annual sale has been held in Perth Since 1963 and in that time has raised more than $2.2 million.

This year the funds raised will go towards a new van for the Red Cross Soup Patrol service. The Soup Patrol vans go out into the communities providing free hot meals, a friendly chat and referral to other support services.

While the end game is generating a huge profit to support vital Red Cross services, Veronica Morrissey, president of the Red Cross Bindaring unit, says that the sense of community is what over 200 volunteers cherish most.

“People come back year after year because everybody is respected and included,” says Veronica. “Some are people who have moved from the country to the city and miss the close-knit communities in the country.”

Just like the Soup Patrol Van delivers volunteers and friendly chats alongside hot meals, the Bindaring event delivers community alongside fundraising.

“Belonging and being valued is so sacred,” says Veronica. “They come to join with others and for the great atmosphere and being around people of all different ages.

“Our youngest member is nine and our eldest is 93.

“The children come in after school to help colour-sort the ties or scarves with parents around supervising them and sharing the experience. It’s the village community that so many people say they miss out on now.”

Like all of the work of Red Cross, volunteers, are at the centre of this sale and Red Cross is working to make volunteering of all types easier so more people have the opportunity to contribute in their own way and enjoy the positive benefits volunteering offers.

“It’s something people know they only need to commit to once a year. And people know they can come and be connected with something special,” says Veronica.

“We have so much fun during the lead up to the big sale day. We have a ‘find of the day’ – dedicated to the funniest or strangest donated item, and we have a quote of the day.

“A quote that comes up every year is one from Buddah – ‘A jug fills drop by drop’. Every little contribution helps and that positive attitude is seen throughout the group. It’s the power of humanity in its truest sense.”

For more information on donating, volunteering or shopping for the 2020 sale, please visit www.bindaringclothingsale.com.au and follow the Bindaring crew on instagram @bindaring.