During the four weeks leading into Christmas last year, 114 restaurants across four states joined forces to help their hood. Over the merry season, diners shared meals with family and friends while chipping in a little to their bill to help those in need. With the power of $1 or $2 donations, generous customers helped us raise $194k.
This was our 15th DineSmart campaign and our dedicated band of restaurateurs and their staff drove the event – chatting with customers and advocating for a world without homelessness.
Through our Collective initiative, we were able to beef up the total to $218,450 with matched funding from the Australian Communities Foundation and the Bennelong Foundation.
This was also a milestone for StreetSmart – taking us across the $5million in funds distributed, now to 566 grassroots organisations. In a climate where essential funding is not keeping pace with the dramatic increase in need – we know that every single dollar that took us to $5million has helped to change lives.
Where The Money Went
One of our NSW grant recipients, Lou’s Place
From all this amazing fundraising activity we are able to support 58 community organisations with $218,450 of funding. These organisations are on the front line delivering essential services, in the communities where the restaurants raised the funds. That’s real, local impact powered by microdonations – so thank you!
Here’s the breakdown for each participating State, and links to all grant recipients by state.
| State | Grant Value | Number of Grants |
| Victoria | $163,500 | 37 |
| New South Wales | $42,000 | 12 |
| Queensland | $7,450 | 4 |
| South Australia | $5,500 | 5 |
| Total | $218,450 | 58 |
A Word From Grant Recipients
Grant recipient, Two Good
Ask Izzy helps people who are homeless or at risk to find the services they need, right now and nearby. We’ve funded the purchase of mobile power cards for people who are homeless and to help raise awareness.
“That’s fantastic news – last night I met with a group of young people to speak to them about Ask Izzy and they were saying how challenging it is to find places to charge their phones. They really loved the Ask Izzy power cards. Staying in touch with family, friends, and services is vital. It will be so amazing to be able to provide these to more people experiencing homelessness.” Lisa Fletcher
Footscape is a health charity that helps those with debilitating foot pathology. We’ve funded them to deliver the Foot Care Kit project.
“Homeless persons diagnosed with Diabetes can have difficulty prioritising their foot health despite the ongoing risk of complications and amputation. Through financial support provided by StreetSmart Australia Footscape will assemble foot care kits that will permit homeless persons to take care of their feet on a daily basis. Footscape is grateful to StreetSmart Australia for their amazing contribution promoting foot health equity.” Anthony Lewis
Two Good cooks and deliver healthy chef-prepared meals, and for each one sold they provide the same meal to domestic violence refuges and people sleeping rough. They also employ women from refuges in their kitchens. We’ve helped to fund their new kitchen in Melbourne. Here’s a quote from one of the ladies who went through their work ready program – paid 3-month work contract with Two Good.
“Thank you so much for all of your support and love to date. I have no words to express my gratitude to you all. You helped me when there was nobody to help. You are the one who has not only made me feel I have the right to dream but also made me believe that it is definitely possible. My good wishes will be always with you and the whole team of Two Good.” Srabanty.
BMiles supports women living with a mental illness who are experiencing homelessness. We’ve funded them to provide more clinical support for domestic violence survivors.
“Thank you so much to your team and all the incredible StreetSmart supporters – we can’t tell you how fabulous this is! Our Case Management team will be delighted to hear this news. We work with women who are impacted by mental ill health, many of whom have experienced trauma and or family and domestic violence, and these much-needed funds will enable women to access clinical support to assist them with their recovery. Please let your supporters know their funds are going directly to those in need and making a real difference to the lives of the most vulnerable women in our society.” Kate Timmins
The Fundraising Champions
Adam with some of our amazing Ambassadors, Megan, Sean, Martin, Ben and Nick.
We love and appreciate all our partner restaurants, but there are those that go the extra mile to deliver outstanding results. Here are our 2017 top performers…
Top Fundraisers Champions – Chin Chin, Melbourne – $13,474 raised
Top Fundraisers Runner Up – Cafe Sydney, Sydney – $13,384 raised
Top Fundraisers No.3 – Stalactites, Melbourne – $12,248 raised
Other Notable Mentions
Mamasita, Melbourne
Red Spice Road – McKillop St, Melbourne
Longrain, Sydney
The Apollo, Sydney
Longrain, Melbourne
The Spaghetti House Trattoria, Brisbane
Vaporetto Bar & Eatery, Melbourne
Best New Restaurant Champions – The Spaghetti House Trattoria, Brisbane – $4,477 raised
Best New Restaurant Runners-Up – San Telmo, Melbourne – $4,141 raised
Best New Restaurant No. 3 – Bistro Rex, Sydney – $3,893 raised
‘Beat Your Best’ Champs – Port Phillip Estate, Mornington Peninsula
‘Beat Your Best’ Runners Up – Epocha, Melbourne
‘Beat Your Best’ No.3 – Punch Lane, Melbourne
A massive shout out also to our official sponsors for DineSmart 2017. Without the financial support of UberEats, Open Table, Cargo Crew and the media support of Broadsheet we just wouldn’t be able to do what we do. Thank you all!
