Murray Lands Retirement Village residents rally once again to end homelessness
Residents at the Murray Bridge village are walking to raise money for the Hutt Street Centre and homelessness.
This year residents and staff at the Murray Lands Retirement Village are once again participating in Hutt Street Centre's Walk a Mile challenge.
The challenge runs during national homeless week, from August 4-10 and residents will join a community walk on August 8 in Victoria Park.
The team, the young and the breathless, have already raised over $6000 to support people experiencing homelessness.
The team has changed a bit this year, with members leaving and some joining, like Lynn Hawkes, who's recently moved to the village.
"I just thought what a great idea and I love walking, so it's a win-win really," she said.
"I wanted to do something to give back to the community."
It's a sobering thought when you think that anybody can be one step away from being homeless, she said.
"It's also a a thing to not be stereotypical or make assumptions when it comes to these things," Ms Hawkes said.
So far Ms Hawkes has raised $1700 for the group who collectively started fundraising at the beginning of July.
The group has held garage sales, and had donations from friends and family members.
Existing member and village manager Rowena Fox said it's amazing to have people at their age doing this with no benefit to themselves
"It's pretty amazing when you think of what they're doing."
One of the team members grandchildren even rallied all of their pocket money they had collected for a week and donated to the team, she said.
- Donate to the Young and the Breathless: https://www.walkamile.org.au.
- Get help: Contact the Homelessness Gateway on 1800 003 308; or contact AC Care by visiting 29 Bridge Street, Murray Bridge, calling 1300 AC CARE, emailing care@accare.org.au or going to www.accare.org.au.
