WA Labor Senator and former truckie Glenn Sterle has hit the road to deliver donated mattresses and furniture as part of a 3000 kilometre Waste to Wages charity road trip.
Sterle is joined by fellow driver for the trip Nick D’Adamo, CEO of KEYS – The Moving Solution, which is a partner of Waste to Wages. There will be two trucks involved in the charity trip, carrying five trailers between them.
The duo left Perth yesterday morning, bound for Kununurra in WA’s far north. They will first deliver a shipping container full of mattresses and bedding (donated by Bedshed and the Ocean Beach Hotel) to Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley and surrounding areas on the way to Kununurra; before heading to Kununurra with four shipping containers full of donated furniture items for a recycling store named Revive.
Waste to Wages began last year after Sterle met with East Kimberley Job Pathways (EKJP), a local organisation in Kununurra that provides training and employment programs throughout the East Kimberley.
After identifying the training and employment opportunities possible through recycling ventures, EKJP created a program called Waste to Wages which trains and now employs Aboriginal youth to collect and repair recyclable items (which would otherwise be destined for landfill) for Revive.
It was a soggy start this morning but the 2021 Waste to Wages road trip is off & running! We are now heading north to deliver donated mattresses & bedding to Fitzroy Crossing & then onto Kununurra with 4 shipping containers worth of donated furniture items https://t.co/oVfAT1p356
— Senator Glenn Sterle (@GlennSterle) July 12, 2021
All money raised from the sale of repaired items at the store goes directly back into training local Indigenous people and providing meaningful employment.
Sterle asked EKJP if Revive was happy to receive used and unwanted furniture from Perth – and the answer was yes.
He put out a call for unwanted furniture and was blown away with the response.
Following a chat with site manager at Revive in Kununurra, Paige McLachlan, Sterle learned that all of the furniture he delivered in October had been sold, which led to the second charity road trip, which is now underway.
After putting a call out for furniture donations, 46 collections were made last month from residents across Perth and as far south as Margaret River, which filled four shipping containers.
Don Bantock, who is the owner of Bedshed in Osborne Park, Perth, also got behind the program, donating over 100 brand new mattresses.
As there is currently a severe shortage of beds in various communities, this donation will make a huge difference to many families.
To follow the trip, click here.