FROM December 1, the NSW government’s Return and Earn scheme will be available to the public and consumers can claim a 10 cent refund on bottles and cans at reversible vending machine kiosks at participating locations across the state.
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The St Vincent de Paul Society NSW, has recently been named as one of the initial charity partners of the Return and Earn scheme.
St Vincent de Paul Society NSW chief executive officer Jack de Groot said the organisation is excited to be included in the initiative.
“Vinnies is extremely grateful and excited to be one of the initial donation partners for the NSW government’s ‘Return and Earn’ scheme,” Mr de Groot said.
“The initiative will raise important funds to assist Vinnies provide a helping hand to those Australians experiencing disadvantage and homelessness in our communities.”
Mr de Groot said the funds donated to the charity will be used to assist in running several support services.
“All funds donated to Vinnies by consumers using the Reverse Vending Machines will be used to help run our accommodation and support services, such as counselling and case management, for vulnerable and disadvantaged people,” he said.
Mr de Groot said the launch of the scheme is timely as Christmas is a busy time of year the charity.
“This initial donation campaign will run over the next three months, a time that we know will see more and more Australians turn to Vinnies for assistance,” he said.
“This is traditionally a very tough period for families, with Christmas, end of year bills, and back to school costs all mounting up.”
Mr de Groot said donations would also assist the charity in dealing with the rising rate in homelessness.
“Homelessness is also on the rise,” he said.
“We know that 105,000 people are experiencing homelessness in Australia today, and of these, 17,000 are children younger than 12-years-old. It is shocking that between July 2016 to March 2017, almost 60 per cent of people assisted by Vinnies were in housing stress, where their rent takes up more than 30 per cent of their income.”
Mr de Groot encouraged Australians to get behind the ‘Return and Earn’ scheme and said the money is going to a worthy cause.
“If Australians can use the opportunity to engage with the scheme and generously donate their refund to Vinnies, they can be confident that it will make an enormous difference to those people living at the margins of society,” he said.
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
