Clear out your unwanted winter clothes for a good cause.

I received an email this week about the need for warm clothes for visitors coming to Melbourne for the International AIDS Conference at the end of July. Many of the delegates are from warm, low income countries.

Details of how to donate clothes are at the end. Thanks for your help.

Spread the word!

Last year's World AIDS Day sign over the Yarra River.
© 2013 divacultura

The International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) is the largest ever health or development meeting 

to be held in Australia.  

 

AIDS 2014 will be held here in Melbourne from 20 – 25 July, 2014 and we need your help! 

 

Approximately 14, 000 participants are expected to attend the Conference and various associated events.  Many  of  our  delegates  are  coming  from warmer climates  and  some  from  low  income countries. As we know, the temperatures don’t get to high here in the month of July and the MPG is 

partnering with Red Cross to provide low cost warm clothing.  

 

This is where you come in – we are asking you to dig deep and donate some winter woollies for delegates to purchase during AIDS 2014. Donated clothing will be sold (at very low costs) within the Global Village at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) where the conference will 

be  held.  Proceeds  raised  from  your  donation  will  be  donated  to  Red Cross  to  assist  their humanitarian work, supporting vulnerable people within our community. 

 

We are looking for donations of women's and men's winter clothing & accessories such as: 

 

•  Tops, T.shirts, Shirts, Long Sleeve Blouses  

•  Knitwear, Cardigans, Jumpers, Pullovers  

•  Jeans, Pants, Skirts, Tights 

•  Coats, Jackets 

•  Shoes, Scarves, Beanies, Gloves 

 

AIDS 2014 is only 3 weeks away! Your urgency in donating goods is greatly appreciated.  

 

Red Cross Shops can collect the merchandise or alternatively, it can be dropped at our head office location, 23-47 Villiers Street, North Melbourne, VIC. 

 

To make a donation please call Bianca Wendt, Red Cross Shops Merchandise Manager, directly on (03) 8327 7867 or 0408 300 470. 

Support Travellers' Aid - grab a funky myki cover

I just discovered this fundraising activity for Travellers' Aid, an organisation that provides assistance to people needing extra help when using public transport. (Thanks Daniel Bowen.) You can order a funky holder for your myki card and help support a good cause at the same time. Covers are free and you pay $2.50 postage and handling.

I walk past the Travellers' Aid centre at Flinders Street station most days, on my way to platform 10 and have often wondered what they do. After reading their website, I was very happy to also make a donation to support their work. As well as providing physical facilities in four Victorian locations, they also provide people - carers and medical companions for people who need assistance to attend medical appointments. I imagine that this service is appreciated and valuable for many people.

One of the benefits of having my myki is a special cover is that it will help me avoid the embarrassment of accidentally using something like my library card and wondering why the gates won't open!

They'd be a cute stocking stuffer for the public transport user in your life at Christmas time too.

Which one/s do you like?

Don't assume that I don't care!

The Big Issue seller was in his usual spot.  He didn't seem to be doing much business.  From a distance, it looked like there was something "off".  Was he doing or saying something to turn people off?  I soon found out.

I always say hello and occasionally buy the magazine.

He waved the current issue in my face and asked if I'd like to buy.

I smiled, said hello and shook my head.  As I did I also said that I had already purchased this edition.

"You don't fuckin' give a shit..." he muttered under his breath.

Ah, there it was, the thing was hurting his business.

Before I had thought about it, I turned back and said, "That's not true.  I do care.  I've already bought this edition and don't want to buy a second one."

He back pedalled rapidly.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it.  I was talking to myself.  I didn't mean it."

As I walked away I thought about how the conversation would continue - it sounded like you were talking to me; you'd do better trade if you didn't accuse people; if you're going to talk to yourself, do it silently or think about what conversation you're going to have!

As I was walking home this evening, I thought about the assumptions that we make and what would cause someone to default to a reaction based on the assumption that people aren't buying the magazine because they don't care about homeless people.  This man has probably experienced being invisible and knocked back regularly, so it would be a reasonable assumption to make.  No matter how reasonable an assumption can seem it doesn't necessarily make it a truth.

One of the leaders who has been most influential in my life set up a rule in a team we were leading.  That rule was "check your assumptions".  We were rigorous in enforcing this rule.  It became a mantra within the team.  Constant attention to this need to check changed mindsets and meant that we were far less likely to make high-stakes decisions (or even smaller decisions) based on an assumption that was wrong.

It's a good discipline to instill, in both professional and personal life.

What assumptions do you make?  Have you ever made a decision based on a wrong assumption?