Who they are

Rosies has been sharing friendship since 1987. Volunteers run street outreach across South East Queensland, setting up on a footpath with a hot drink and sitting with whoever comes over. They are careful about the language: the people they meet are friends, not clients.

Their whole model rests on the idea that isolation does as much damage as hunger, and that a conversation with someone who is genuinely pleased to see you is not a small thing. They want no Queenslander to feel disconnected from their community.

What we did

We sent Rosies 286 garments, the largest single donation we have ever made.

Because Rosies work outdoors and at night, this was not a donation that sat in a storeroom. It went out on outreach vans to people sleeping rough through a Queensland winter. Warm clothing that also happens to say something kind is a strange sort of gift, but it turns out to be the right one.

Why this one matters

Our tees carry a message on the back. Somebody sleeping rough gets read a lot, and usually not kindly. A shirt that says something generous about the person wearing it does a job that a plain one does not.