A WEBSITE helping children with disabilities, women fleeing domestic violence and a host of other charities has been given a boost in WA.
Not-for-profit organisation Givit has been running in Australia since 2009 but the appointment of Lathlain resident Anna Presser to the role of state manager, thanks to the Bankwest Foundation, is the first time it has had feet on the street in WA.
The website enables charities to list what their clients need and then the public is able to donate directly.
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READ NOW“People can go online and see what charities are after. It’s a bit like Gumtree; we are a middle man that can pass on the details to the public,” she said.
“In the past couple of months we’ve had a significant amount of requests fulfilled; there was a boy living with cerebral palsy who needed a trampoline for exercise and someone was able to donate it.
“There was a case where women were fleeing domestic violence and they needed some items like fridges and furniture.
“We’ve been able to link up with about 100 charities in WA so far.”
One of the charities the organisation has been able to help is Youth Futures, a charity that aims to reduce youth homeless and increase opportunities for young people to complete their education.
Youth Futures chief executive Mark Waite said the charity helped more than 4000 young people in the previous financial year and traditional funding could not meet all of its needs.
“We had a client who loved the violin but was homeless, so we put a call out and someone had one lying around,” he said.
“It’s fantastic that Givit is there because we don’t have the time or resources to do what they do.”
Mrs Presser said it was satisfying to know the company was able to help people in need.
“When you see the links forming and you get the feedback, you get to understand what a difference it makes,” she said.
“Having a virtual network means that charities don’t have to sort and dispose of items; it saves time and resources.
“We have a network of givers but we are still looking for people to donate.”
Visit www.givit.org.au to see items the charities need.