Giva Blog Categories : Social Responsibility

Giva Salutes: 2017 CEO Sleepout for Homeless Services

Australia's St. Vincent de Paul's CEO Sleepout

At Giva we search for organisations, large and small, that are doing a great job of changing the world around them for the better; and we are pleased to salute them here!

St Vincent de Paul Society was founded over 170 years ago by a young man named Frederic Ozanam. Today, the St Vincent de Paul Society of Australia continues to fight social injustice in Australia with the help of over 40,000 volunteers and members. The mission of St Vincent de Paul Society is to give a "hand up" to people who are affected by social justice issues such as homelessness, poverty and oppression.

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Schools Plus Creates Crowdfunding Platform for Disadvantaged Schools

Schools Plus Crowdfunding for Australia Education

A 2012 survey from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found an achievement gap equivalent to two and a half years of schooling between the most socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged schools. More and more students are failing to meet the minimum standards, and over the past decade, performance in math and reading has dropped significantly.

While many disadvantaged schools are in need of assistance, research from Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP) has found that many schools have neither the network to seek support nor the right tax status to receive donations, making them ill-suited for philanthropic funding. Without knowing what schools want and lacking the proper relationship with the schools, donors find it difficult to make donations, especially when they are not tax-deductible.

Schools Plus was established to bridge the gap between schools and donors. Fundraise Yourself, the organization's crowdfunding platform, is the only one of its kind to offer a tax deduction for donations. The donations allow schools to provide students in need with extra support, activities, and equipment.

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Internet of Things Helps Sydney Go Green

Internet of Things (IoT) for Sydney to Go Green

The city of Sydney is deploying the Internet of Things (IoT) to become more green by way of a public access open data network. The network comes as a collaboration between the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and local startup Meshed.

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One Man’s Plan to Help Homeless People in Australia

Sleepbus

105,000 Australians are homeless on any given night. In 1993, Simon Rowe was one of them. Now, Rowe has launched a project that he hopes will eventually provide a place to sleep to over 6,000 homeless people per night. His passion project is called Sleepbus, which will provide thousands of Australians with private temporary living spaces. To fund Sleepbus, Rowe set up a GoFundMe page to raise enough money to get a pilot program started. In a little over three months, Rowe's campaign made enough money from donations to fund not one, but two charter busses to be converted into Sleep Busses.

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Money for Jam Helps Older Women at Risk for Poverty

Per Capita

Money for Jam is a program created by the Centre for Applied Policy in Positive Ageing (CAPPA) that was inspired by a woman on the age of pension named Paulina, who boosted her Government allowance by offering gardening services to her neighbours. Gardening improved her emotional well-being, and it gave her enough money to be able to buy jam for her morning toast instead of the usual margarine.

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Online Guide Launched for Indigenous Organisations

AskRIGHT

Not for profit AskRIGHT has recently launched a series of free online guides that lists funders of indigenous causes in Australia. The resource lists both Australian and international companies and foundations that publicly support indigenous causes and their fundraising efforts.

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Giva Salutes: Free Mobile Shower Service for the Homeless in Australia from One Voice

One Voice Mobile Showers

At Giva we search for organisations, large and small, that are doing a great job of changing the world around them for the better; and we are pleased to salute them here!

For people dealing with homelessness, it can be very difficult to access a warm, clean and safe shower. People can chose from a few different locations, such as shelters, workout centres, and beach and campground bathrooms. However, some shelters do not have showers, and these other locations may feel uncomfortably crowded or lack privacy. Furthermore, warm water is never a guarantee at any of these places.

Recognising the need for quality shower facilities for the homeless community, Australian not for profit One Voice created the Mobile Shower Service, which provides free hot showers to people dealing with homelessness. The service uses retired buses, which have been redesigned to include two shower cubicles, water tanks, a generator, and a room for health check-ups. This redesign process costs approximately $140,000. In addition to a warm shower, homeless individuals can also access free hygiene products and clean clothing.

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Giva Salutes: The Indigenous Literacy Foundation

Indigenous Literacy Foundation

At Giva, we seek to recognise organisations, both large and small, that are working hard to make a positive difference in the world. We are pleased to salute them here!

Today, we are celebrating the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), which strives to increase literacy among Indigenous Australian children, particularly those living in remote areas. By connecting children with books and literacy resources, the ILF hopes to help improve their opportunities and lives. In 2016, it supplied 140,000 books to 230 remote communities.

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Orange Sky Laundry: Providing Free Laundry Service to the Homeless

Orange Sky Laundry

When people are experiencing homelessness, it becomes more difficult for them to access a variety of basic resources. Some of these resources, such as water, food and shelter, are necessary to sustaining life. Other resources, while not necessarily life-sustaining, can play an important role in making people feel like their lives are satisfying, dignified, and worth living.

Orange Sky Laundry, Australia's first mobile laundry service for the homeless, is working to provide this latter type of resource.

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FUTUREgen16 Conference Encourages Youth to Create Their Future

FUTUREgen16 Conference

On 2nd and 3rd August 2016, Thinq Group will hold FUTUREgen16, a conference to empower youth through employment, education and entrepreneurship programs. The name of the conference speaks to the conference's theme of "Creating a Future that Works for Young People".

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