Contributor ; Frank O’Brien
Some 6 years ago, as our Club was desperately looking for ongoing fundraising avenues (the era of the Charity Auctions was passing), as Incoming President, I wanted an ongoing Income Stream....so with the support of Director Fundraising, Herb Greenwood, and ‘never say never’ Peter Duras, away we went.
Well, we started selling sausages at Bunnings Port Melbourne in July 2017 and at Bunnings Collingwood on Sunday 18 February 2018, both within the City of Melbourne confines.
Most Members have got on board and it’s been one hell of a ride!! We’ve never missed a rostered date and we’ve accepted extra dates via cancellations. We’ve worked in the heat (36'C once or twice) and the cold (with the Winter winds) and once our day was abruptly stopped by a deluge at Collingwood which caused the underground Car Park to flood and lead to many vehicles being written off.....and we’ve missed many opportunities because of Covid 19 imposed closures.
So now it’s time to record the fact that last month we passed the $100k in profit from Bunnings Sausage Sizzles since inception. We’ve grown annual profit from $10k in the first year to over $25k this year. And with the recent Bunnings determined price increase for a “Sausage & Onion”, it won’t take another 6 years to make the next $100k in profit.
Thanks everyone (and Bunnings) for supporting this venture which has turned out to be the “engine room” of our Fundraising efforts and one which provides fellowship opportunities at no cost but time to our Members.