Flood Victims : Damaged Photos

I also got this information via Facebook so thought I would share  - please pass it on :)


URGENT - to save any photographs damaged by flood waters, immerse them in clean fresh water and get them to Inkjet Lab at Bowen Hills ASAP. They will clean, copy and save 50 photos to disk for you at no charge.


Check out this link -  Inkjet Lab Info on Saving Flood Damaged Photos


•Pick out your most important 50 photos before you come in and we will concentrate on these first.


•Choose close family, wedding and pet photos - not travel pics and happy snaps.
•Remove photos from frames as soon as possible so they don't stick to the glass. Please do not bring in frames if possible.
•Rinse everything in clean fresh water and place the photos in sealed plastic bags so they don't dry out and stick together. This does several things, first it reduces the risk of disease and secondly, it make our job a little easier.
•Ring Mark on 0421 599 423 to arrange a time to deliver them.
•This is a limited offer which expires Tuesday the 25th of January. Sorry, we can't help beyond this as we do have our other paying customers to attend to.

Flood Victims : Free Laundromat @ Murrarrie

I just received this via Facebook so thought I would let you know about it - please spread the word

If anyone knows of people in areas impacted by the floods in Brisbane, Fisher and Paykel has set up a free laundromat Murarrie. They have everything there, even the jug will be hot! Doors open at 7am and it will be open until 7pm each day until further notice.


8 Terrace Place
Murarrie

Flooding Victims

Sadly we are already being advised of locals who need our help. 
We're already aware of 2 local families who are in need, and we know there will be more :(

Family 1.
Require boys size 6 clothes, size 14 womens clothes, XXL mens clothes & toys suitable for 3 & 6 year old boys.

Family 2.
A refugee family (mother, father, teenage son) who speak very little English.  We have previously helped them get ALL of the contents of their house when they were moved from Moorooka where they were sharing a unit to their own house at Darra.  As far as I'm aware they have lost everything. 

Once I am aware of what items are needed I will update the blog and facebook page. For those of you who don't know the facebook page is www.facebook.com/sandlewoodopshop

Flood Update

Thankfully we were lucky and the shop did not get flooded. 
However, we are having issues with the safety of our power and may be open ad-hoc from tomorrow. 

I thought I'd add in some pictures of our surrounding areas to show you what we are facing.  These photos are taken in Muriel Avenue, which is the street running off Beaudesert Road very close to the shop.

This first one is Muriel Road - the Rail Underpass which takes you to Sherwood Road Rocklea.

This is the Skate Park next to the Scout Hall in Muriel Avenue (I took this one yesterday and today it's higher again)

John Bright Street - once again this is one I took yesterday and today the water was higher again - I just haven't uploaded those photos from my camera just yet.

Heaton St Salisbury (looking off Beaudesert Rd Overpass at Salisbury) taken approx 7.30am today by Brit Ibanez.

Temporary Shop Closure 12.1.11

As most people would be aware, Queensland is facing it's worst Natural Disaster in many, many years. 

75% of our state has been considered a Natural Disaster Zone and many areas local to the shop are already affected by the floods.

Beaudesert Road near the Motorama 4x4 by More is under water and has been closed.  Muriel Avenue (off which you turn in to get to the shop) is also closed due to flooding. 

Water levels are expected to be greater than in 1974 floods, which, many locals will be aware the water levels did come awfully close to where the shop is (across the road where the safety shop and servo is was underwater).

This is the prediction of the area that will be affected by flooding (in yellow) if you look you'll see that our street is on the prediction map. 

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201101/r700540_5364790.pdf

As a result we are not taking risks, and have closed the shop until the imminent risk of flood waters has passed.

Obviously this is a very trying time - many of our clients in the Yeronga, Rocklea, Fairfield, Sherwood, Tennyson areas will already be affected by flood.  This is the time when our community needs to band together and work as one to help those who need it, so the closing of the shop is not one that we take lightly.

Blogged!

Thanks so much to Kim for writing a bit about her experience about our shop on her blog!
If you have a moment spare, why not pop over to her blog for a read and to leave a comment. You'll find the post here:
http://wibv.blogspot.com/2010/12/sandlewood-op-shop.html

Almost a Happy New Year!

I don't know if it's just me, but this year seems to have gone way too quickly!  It seems like only yesterday we were in the preparation stage of opening, and yet this year we celebrated our 1st Birthday of the Shop and also our 2nd Christmas.  We started up the website, and I tried to keep up (not very sucessfully I might add!) with the blogging to keep everyone in the loop of what was going on!

We've  been in the local Newspapers, and featured in local magazines like the Westender http://www.westender.com.au/

This year, we once again were able to assist many disadvantaged members of our community with the help of some wonderful friends. 

The lovely people at Givit http://www.givit.org.au/ assisted us this year in our Christmas Hamper Appeal by spreading the word on their website, and assisted us with the task of requesting donations of many non perishable food and household items. 

For those not in the know, Givit is a not-for-profit Organisation run by a team of hardworking and dedicated volunteers.  Their aim is to match up people in need with items that people no longer want or need.  I strongly urge you, if you have items of furniture or other items that you are considering donating to charity, please consider putting your unwanted item on Givit's website.   This allows organisations such as housing providers, crisis accommodation facilities, community mental health agencies and groups who help disadvantaged people in our area, to request and receive goods that their clients need.  

So anyway, the wonderful staff at Givit really helped enable us to help out families who really were in need at this time of year.  

Our wonderful friends Tom and Steph at Storage King Salisbury http://www.storageking.com.au/salisbury/  offered us up some space, and storage bags to pack all our parcels. 

 

With our volunteer troops Conwae, Cathy, Helen, Lee, Rosie and of course Desley, the team packed a total of 37 hampers and gift packs that helped out a total of 61 people in total.   I'm sure you'll agree that for such a tiny shop this is a huge feat and one we should be very proud of !! And so with that, Christmas was over, and it is ALMOST 2011!   I am so proud to be able to do such a wonderful "job" where I can be involved with such wonderful giving people and see all our hard work really pay off. 

So, at this point - I would like to thank a few people. 

First off, thanks to Desley, who literally never stops working for the Shop.  Even when she's not at the Shop (which she often is much longer than the opening hours), she's doing something for the Shop, or a client, or someone else who needs something.
A huge thank you to our volunteers this year, Grace, Ellie, Conwae, Cathy, Helen, Lee, Rosie, John and I would like to particularly thank Marie, who always comes rain, hail or shine and always has a smile on her face, no matter how big the daunting pile of donations she is standing in! 

Thank you also to Peter for stepping up and being the delivery/collections person most of the time until recently, despite also working a full-time paid job.  

A huge thanks also goes to all our regular customers, and our donators.  Without you, the shop can't continue to do the work it does and help people who need assistance.

So, I think that's just about it for 2010.  We will be open this week from 10am to 4pm and back as usual in the New Year after the Public Holidays.  

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

- Alani