NO-ONE could have predicted that a group of young philanthropic locals renowned for their love of food, wine and long lunches could have taken less than two months to raise $14,000 for Orange’s homeless youth refuge Emerge.
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The group raised the money from what is laughingly referred to as the NOFA (No Old Farts Allowed) Lunch at Lolli Redini restaurant.
One of the event organisers, James Robson, said the plan had always been to stage a fundraiser where 100 per cent of all of the takings would be returned to the charity concerned.
In keeping with this, donations poured in from throughout the local and Sydney area. A number of raffles and an auction were held and lucky door prizes were awarded throughout the day. Prizes included wine from a selection of local wineries as well as weekends away and dinners.
Not only did Lolli Redini provide the food for the lunch, along with a generous donation of meat from M & J Butchery, but all of the restaurant staff worked the Sunday lunch shift for free.
According to Mr Robson, his wife Chrissy Robson and friends Annie and Dave Waddell wanted to give something back to a local charity and jumped at the chance to work with Lolli Redini’s chef/owner Simonn Hawke and manager Leah Morphett to do so.
Mr Robson attributes the day’s success to the enthusiasm of all concerned including the 56 diners who enjoyed a three-course lunch at a cost of $120 a head.
“The atmosphere was great and Annie did a great job pulling it all together on the day and helping organise the prizes,” said Mr Robson.
According to Emerge’s co-coordinator Jody Pearce, the young people who regularly use Emerge’s services were really excited that the wider community were willing to support them in this way.
“I really am amazed at the amount of money that we have been given,” said Ms Pearce.
She said Emerge would use the money to upgrade a garage into a training and education centre where young people can refine their life skills.
Ms Hawke said she planned to have an ongoing relationship with the team at Emerge and will run cooking classes at the facility in the near future.
Ms Morphett said both she and Ms Hawke relished the opportunity to support local youth and help them stay in Orange rather than see them forced to move away to Sydney to seek crisis accommodation.
“In many ways I think that homeless youth is not a popular cause and it’s often one that gets swept under the carpet,” said Ms Morphett.
