Hi 5 Good People
You’ve done it again you champion ‘itsPortAdelaide’ people!!! Thanks to your generosity at the recent ‘itsPortAdelaide’ photo exhibition, I’ve just handed over another cheque (on your behalf) for $1,112.20 to Kim & Phil of the Defence Shed & they were so grateful... & in Kim’s words, “The money is going to help us like crazy, so we are all very appreciative of your generosity.”
So what’s the Defence Shed going to do with the money?? Let’s first have a look at some of the incredible work they are already doing in & around our community.
I’ll let Kim & Phil fill ya in…
“A lot of the projects we do here are based around helping the community which at the same time helps the veterans who come-and-go out of this place. The main thing the Defence Shed provides is an environment where we serve the community by getting veterans involved in projects. With a fully equipped woodwork workshop in one part of the Defence Shed, members get to work on many projects that support local schools, community events & specialised projects.”
“Lots of the stuff we create internally gets put back into the community, that’s what it’s about and I think that’s why we are quite unique in that regard. There’s not much else like this around and we tend to get a lot of attention because of that. People want to know what we are all about & how it all works. It certainly helps the members here to engage within the community, through community activities where they are out talking to people. We get people from the community popping in here all the time and they are always very supportive of this organisation and what we do here, they look after us really well.”
Another branch of the Defence Shed is the vegetable garden & a lot of the members have been born with a green thumb! The guys reckon, “the veggie garden produces a lot of the vegetables used in our cooking classes at the Defence Shed - these have been provided by the local council teaching us about cooking. We also gift a lot of the veggies, herbs and spices with our free cart out the front.”
“The veteran community is not much different than the general community, we are all family. Our community is at different capacities from currently serving and fully fit, right down to people at their lowest stage in life - we get them coming through here at every level, we like to think that we can cater for everyone. The main focus is some people take baby steps to come here because they are unsure about this place or don’t want to be part of the veteran community or come to a Defence Shed. A lot of people can be turned off by names but eventually they get to know it or they may branch off and do their own thing but they sometimes come back, I think it’s important that we keep the doors open to give them that opportunity when they are ready to turn up.
So thanks everyone for your generosity & support - with your help the Defence Shed will be able to buy new woodworking tools, hardware & equipment, including new sanding belts, disks & cutting blades, to continue completing projects for the community. The veggie garden is due for a revamp, so some much need funds will go into turning the soil, planting some seeds & getting things humming along. Also with a new office space on the cards early this year some dollars will come in really handy to do some renovations.
A common theme associated with the Defence Shed & so many other local community initiatives is how selfless they are & how much they want to give back to our community… Thank you Defence Shed… Love Ya Work!!
Finally if you or someone you know would like the full run down on the Defence Shed, you can check ‘em out at Defence Shed Port Adelaide & www.defenceshed.com.au