Kitchen store hub of charity effort

Kitchen Headquarters co-owner Spiros Scafidas said the company had been helping the charity throughout the year, with a recent golf day raising $35,000 for the crisis support helpline. He said many people were not aware suicide continued to be the leading cause of death for Australians under 44 ” ‘a rate almost twice the annual road toll, which is a crazy statistic’. ‘Lifeline’s paid and volunteer telephone crisis workers answer 1700 calls a day with more than 150 of these from people at risk of suicide. ‘It costs about $3000 to train each volunteer and Kitchen Headquarters hopes to fund the training of at least 25 crisis workers this year.’ In the lead-up to Christmas, Kitchen Headquarters, also owned by Rick Hart and Nick Kirby, is donating 5 per cent of every sale to Lifeline. Joondalup store manager Trish Fabatini said customers were very happy when they heard some of their purchase was being donated. ‘It’s such a worthy cause,’ she said. Mr Scafidas said the Joondalup showroom was the third in the WA kitchen and home appliance chain, which focuses on ‘mid to premium range’ products. He said as well as kitchen and cooking products, they sold sinks and taps, barbecues and laundry items and stocked a range of exclusive brands including Sub Zero and Wolf from USA and V-ZUG from Switzerland. They also offer free cooking classes and demonstrations to help buyers make informed decisions ” ‘something a little different to everyone else,’ Mr Scafidas said. ‘We also warehouse stock so if you want to take advantage of a special price but you’re house isn’t being built for a year, we’ll keep it in the warehouse until you need it.’ ‘We’ve brought into the northern part of Perth a focus on building and renovating. ‘We work very closely with cabinetmakers and kitchen designers and have our own Kitchen Design Company based in the showrooms,’ he said. Kitchen Headquarters is in the Masters Centre on Joondalup Drive.