Base Services Hike for Homeless 2024 raises more than $50,000 for essential social support
A valiant Toowoomba essential social support services has united the community for its annual Hike for Homeless fundraiser for almost a decade, at a time when it’s needed more than ever. See the event photo gallery here.
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Base Services Hike for Homeless event saw hundreds trek through the steep and narrow hills of Jubilee Park to raise vital funds to support Toowoomba’s growing homeless population.
The rising cost of living has pinched the nation hard with more families in crisis than ever before, exacerbating the importance of social support services like The Basement Soup Kitchen.
Base Services co-ordinator Nat Spary said while this year’s event didn’t quite reach that goal, more than $50,000 was raised to go toward the services ‘On the Move’ campaign to build a purpose-designed facility that will meet the growing demand for its services.
“It’s probably one of our warmer days today so it’s a big effort from our hikers and a big thing about the event is the number of schools that participate, it’s great to see so many young people and they bring such a great atmosphere,” he said.
“The Glennie School has been a top fundraiser for two years in a row now and they raised $3,900 this year.”
Mr Spary said the rising costs of living has put more people in crisis, with the service noticing a significant increase in the number of families, single parents and individuals asking for help.
“We’re definitely seeing a lot of different faces asking for help, especially for assistance with food,” he said.
Base Services has also felt the cost of living pinch, reporting a 30 per cent increase in operating costs over the past two years.
“We are struggling so we really rely on our regular donors and the community for support, we’re so thankful they’re helping keep our doors open,” Mr Spary said.
“(The Basement) has been there for 30 years now and we’ve just outgrown the space, there’s no room for people to sit down now when they come into the soup kitchen.”
Mr Spary wants the state government to come out to Toowoomba to see how the services hard work is helping people exit homelessness.
“I hope they will meet us halfway and help us secure a new space in the future, we’ve shown our good measure through our programs and services, so I hope they will come out and see the work we’re doing,” he said.
“We’ve been around for 30 years and want to see it around for the next 30 years, because the service is more than a meal, it helps people exit homelessness.”
Toowoomba couple Judy and Barry Sheehan have hiked the 5km, 10km and 20km event every year for the past nine years, in an effort to contribute and solidify support for co-ordinator’s Nat and Tiff Spary.
“Community involvement in these fundraising events helps put pressure on decision makers to do something about these issues,” Mrs Sheehan said.
“(Hike for Homeless) raises awareness of what we could and should be doing for those vulnerable people.”
The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.
See the full photo gallery from the event below.
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