Shave for a van

2 September 2009

Alice Pate-Stout became involved with the Salvation Army through her association with Ted Lang.  Ted died in December 2008 from cancer.  Weeks before he died, Ted's home was devastated by a freak storm that blasted through the Brisbane suburb of The Gap, where he lived.  The Salvos arrived in his street and set up a coffee van which provided much needed pastoral care and ongoing support.  The van they used was on loan from Sydney.  The Salvos continued to visit the street over the following weeks and Ted's conviction was that he needed to lead a charge to raise the funds for a Brisbane-based van.

The ensuing weeks were a frenzy of media and local support for the idea.  Ted, aware that he did not have long to live, asked Captain Bryce Davies to conduct his funeral and to make the funeral a fundraiser for the van.  Over $4000 was raised at his funeral.

Alice is keen to be as motivated in her health as Ted was in his sickness.  She believes there is support for creative ideas like this one.

The van is now available as a first response to any disaster in the Brisbane area, with hopes that funding support to be such that a worker were to be available for a statewide response option.

In partnership with the Brisbane Magistrates Court (Special Circumstances), we plan to assign hours to people sentenced by the court to the coffee van as a way to fulfil their community service requirements.  This is a great alternative to the many mundane and soul destroying options they currently have.  They learn Barista skills and deal creatively with the public.  They are mentored and trained by a Salvation Army worker.  If this works in this setting, the model has potential to be rolled out throughout the country.

Donations will support the van in the following ways:

* Supply of cups for 12 months       * Upgrading promotional displays      * Defraying registration costs

Donations can be made by depositing funds directly into the following Westpac account:

Account Name  The Salvation Army     BSB  034 002       Account Number  32-8742

Any deposit must be clearly narrated as "Shave for a Van".

A tax deductible receipt can be issued upon receipt of the funds.

Please email details for the posting of the receipt to sue.davies@aue.salvationarmy.org

Many thanks!