YESS to fire funds

HUNDREDS of dollars were raised for bushfire relief by St Pat’s Ballarat’s youth group on Sunday.

By 3pm, the Youth Every Second Sunday team raised $620.15 for St Vincent de Paul’s Bushire Appeal at their Cosy Koala Fundraiser, selling preloved clothes, homewares and toys.

Catching crowds in the CBD, especially from morning mass, YESS coordinator Felicity Liston said lots browsed the goods, while Gemini the Josh entertained on the guitar and children had their faces painted.

“A lot of kids have come through and the sausage sizzle was a hit,” Miss Liston said.

“Lots of donations have come in too. I put out a call and I’ve had lots of people come with bags of clothes, toys and bring them to me.

“Josh has been busking when people are about… Out of the goodness of his heart. He would usually busk like normal, but everything in the case has gone to the bushfire appeal today.”

The fundraising idea was sparked by some home spring cleaning.

“We had lots of stuff at our house and we thought there would be a lot of people in a similar boat to us,” Miss Liston said.

“We were going to donate to Vinnies anyway, and we were hearing about the bushfire tragedies across the country, so I thought, let’s try and have a sale, with the proceeds to Vinnies.”

The Cosy Koala initiative ran from 11.30am until 5pm, with all left over materials donated to Vinnies.