Bun Fight: Charities Duel For Diners Dollars
26 October 2011 at 10:55 am
Almost $51,000 has been raised by Australian restaurants for famine relief in East Africa.
The Bread for Good program – supported by UNICEF – invites diners to donate $2 to famine relief if they order bread with their meal.
UNICEF say that with that $2, one child can be kept alive each day. Already 75 percent of donations have been sent to famine areas, according to UNICEF.
Australia chief executive Norman Gillespie has just returned from the largest refugee camp in the world, located near the Somali Kenyan border.
He told The Age, “The plight of the half million refugees is desperate. They are stateless and with little hope of ever being repatriated to another country…..We cannot turn our backs on this situation."
Melbourne restaurant group MoVida, which has donated more than $5800, currently holds the top two spots for contributions.
The model has come under fire however for copying that of StreetSmart which supports local charities in Australian cities.
In the lead-up to Christmas, StreetSmart together with restaurants asks patrons to make a small donation to StreetSmart on their bill – usually $2.
StreetSmart says one hundred percent of that money then goes to help homeless people in that city.
Operating in Australian restaurants since 2003, last year diners at 260 restaurants raised $420,914 to support 88 grassroots projects.
Prominent Melbourne food blogger Ed Charles posted on his blog Tomato: “While Bread for Good is undoubtedly a good cause, I do object to the fact that you have taken the entire methodology of StreetSmart, an organisation I support through my blog.
“Unfortunately, by signing up these restaurants for $2 donations (which is what Streetsmart started) you are cutting into the income of this tiny charity that only raises a few hundred thousand dollars a year, 100% of which goes to local causes rather than the millions UNICEF raises.”
Have your say – is UNICEF cutting into the income of local charities?
