WHEN the Aussies head out to bat on Boxing Day at the MCG, one Ballarat comedian will be cheering on every single run.
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Aaron Gocs has joined forces with Orange Sky, an Australian charity that operates free laundry services for the homeless and underwear subscribers service Junkmail who are donating a pair of jocks to homeless Australians for every run the Australian team scores in the test match.
Gocs is hoping the national team can turn around their recent slumps with the bat, to put on at least 700 runs which will see 700 homeless people benefit.
“We wanted to do something to highlight a major issue in Australia,” Gocs said. “Sydney has the cancer awareness test and they turn the ground pink, we’d love to be able to turn the MCG orange.
“People see homelessness and think all they need is some shelter which is obviously the most important, but it’s a lot more than that, there are so many things that people have to deal with when they are homeless.
“They want to be able to clean their clothes which is where Orange Sky helps out, but you don’t even think that people who homeless need new underwear as well.”
It is hoped the Boxers Day test campaign will gather momentum over coming years as public awareness grows.
“This year, more than 116,000 Australians will spend the Christmas period without a safe place to call home and without access to laundry or shower services,” Orange Sky co-founder, Lucas Patchett said.
“Similarly to laundry, most people take underwear for granted. The simple act of giving free, new underwear to our friends on the streets will have a massive impact.”
Junkmail was created by Nick Hutton after reading a New York Times article that said the best way to be a better person was “to wear comfortable underwear”.
“I learnt that 1 in 200 Australian’s are experiencing homelessness, and just couldn’t believe how common it was (and still is) in our country,” he said.
“I thought their focus on simple things was such a great way to approach the issue.”
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