https://reasonstobecheerful.world/thread-together-clothing-australia/
"Ross Mitchell is a traveling salesman of sorts. He spends up to two months a
year on the road, driving a van thousands of miles across Australia, taking in
the country’s changing landscapes, from its dry “outback” terrain to its lush
tropical north.
The van Mitchell drives is full of brand-new clothing, which he and his team
deliver to people in crisis. Mitchell is operations manager at Thread Together,
an organization which collects last season, end-of-line stock donated by
fashion brands that’s still brand-new, with tags. Thread Together bundles this
clothing — which would otherwise go to landfill — into its vans and sets up
mobile wardrobe stations throughout communities in need, allowing people to go
shopping, for free, and start rebuilding their lives.
Mitchell’s latest trip took him 1,300 miles from his home base in Sydney to
North Queensland, Australia. Record-breaking flooding recently devastated the
region, damaging 2,500 homes and prompting 400 people to evacuate, across a
2,500 square mile area. Twenty-five people were helicoptered to safety and two
people died after nearly six months worth of rain — over six feet — poured down
in just a few days. The Herbert River, in the center of the region, recorded
water levels of nearly 50 feet, well above its usual level of around 6.5 feet,
inundating the surrounding area.
“It was an absolute reality check,” says Mitchell. “I’ve always viewed the area
as paradise, because that’s how I’ve spent my time up there. This time it was
different — to see the piles of people’s personal belongings piled up outside
their homes was devastating.”
“Imagine your worldly possessions have just been pushed out onto the side of
the road, and you’ve got to rebuild and do everything again. It’s the harsh
reality that the climate is changing, and that level of rain and flood, sadly,
is no longer a one-in-100-year event.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
