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Portia
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Hey All,
Thank You for another year of amazing fragrance chatter and beyond. Last year I wrote that the world was in trouble. SHIT! Seems the world took that as a challenge. Brexit, Putin, Trump, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, almost everywhere there is backlash against saving our planet, it’s flora and fauna and people. Big business has us all hoodwinked and most governments are in the pockets of Pharmaceuticals (drugs), War (guns) and Oil. The big picture is bleak.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017
Around me though I see regular bright sparks of creative giving and helping that gives me hope for the small picture. Jin cut his beautiful hair for leukaemia fundraising this year and raised thousands. He did it on my Mum’s The gang at Hair by Phd Parramatta Store cut it for free so we could send it off to become a wig for children with leukaemia. Jin is a dead set hero in my eyes.
My friends Rita and Cathy (and a GF of theirs whose name I can’t bloody remember) are fundraising and cooking with the One Meal crew here in Sydney to provide one decent meal a week to families who are right on the edge of the poverty line and street people. We did a Turbo Trivia Fundraiser for them and raised nearly $22,000. In a year filled with fundraising this was a major highlight.
Another mate Matt Moore and his buddies Matt White and Ben Dunley have started the idea of using the Aussie men’s mates’ mantra ‘Grab a pie, Grab a mate, Have a chat’ helping men to talk about their feelings. From Matt’s own depression problems sprung this idea of doing something so regular, so common amongst Aussie mates and making it a moment to discuss life issues. In 2015, preliminary data showed a total of 3,027 deaths by suicide (12.7 per 100,000), 2,292 males (19.4 per 100,000) and 735 females (6.2 per 100,000). Aussie guys are 3x more likely suicide and at a rate of over 6 per day, from a population of just over 23 million. That’s bad, anything that can help is good. Go visit Guys & Pies and donate.
What do I do? Well, I give myself at a heavily discounted rate for fundraisers, help a few people who I know are struggling sometimes with food, time or cash, give regularly to charities that I feel the money is being spent on helping not admin and we rescue dogs. While none of these things are earth shattering they are game changing for the people that are helped. That’s all I can do.
So Happy New Year Australian Perfume Junkies. To everyone that’s contributed, commented, lurked and followed I wish you a peaceful & prosperous 2017. Fill it with fun & laughter, fragrance and stuff you enjoy. Make time to care for yourself, push yourself to be the best you can be and treat everyone you come in contact with as you’d hope to be treated.
We love you all,
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 