A TV news item provided the inspiration Barry Schofield was looking for to shake up St Leonard’s Brighton Beach Uniting Church Pancake Day formula.
Mr Schofield watched a story where police were ‘moving on’ rough sleepers camped around Flinders St station. An overseas tourist made the comment that it was not a good look for Melbourne.
Mr Schofield noticed she was holding a cup of coffee.
“It made me think that if 100 people saved $4, the equivalent cost of a cup of coffee, every week it would quickly add up to a sizeable amount,” Mr Schofield said.
He and minister Rev Kim Cain came up with a plan. On 1 October (International Coffee Day) last year they asked 100 people to accept a coffee mug and take on ‘The Coffee Mug Challenge’.
Each participant made a commitment to put $4, symbolically shouting a homeless person a cup of coffee a week, in their mug for 20 weeks up until 11 February, the date of the church’s Pancake Sunday service and morning tea. This event raises money to support the work of Uniting Vic/Tas helping people in crisis.
During the service on Pancake Sunday, congregation members placed the accumulated funds from their coffee mugs in a bowl at the front of the church.
After the service they were invited to fill their mug with complimentary barista-made coffee from the donated services of a coffee van as they walked over to morning tea in the church hall.
Once in the hall they were treated to a free pancake with various toppings.
“The congregation thought that the event had a tremendous ‘vibe’ to it, and over $10,000 was raised, with further donations still coming in,” Mr Schofield said.
It was the highest amount ever raised by a Uniting Church congregation for a Pancake Day event, almost doubling the previous record $5550 amount set last year by the same congregation.
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