Recycling brings Christmas cheer to community centre
CHARITY
The Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre has been given a much-needed donation from the Ramada Resort by Wyndham Port Douglas just in time to spread the Christmas spirit.
Today the Ramada team presented the Community Centre with a check for $680 raised by
recycling its waste through the Containers for Change recycling program.
In May, the resort set out new recycling bins specifically for plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminium cans, taking what they collected to Port Douglas Recycling and saving the 10c a container refund.
Resort Manager, Nigel Warwick, said there was no issue getting both their guests and the resort staff on board to raise the money.
“Our entire team believes strongly in benefitting the community where we operate and this initiative enabled us to help local people while doing something very simple,” Mr Warwick said.
“This idea is a great way to practise sustainability and support a good cause at the same time and I would encourage other businesses to implement it.”
Manager of the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre, Mandy White, told Newsport the donation will spread Christmas spirit as it will go towards hampers the centre provides for people in the community who are doing it tough, as part of the Christmas Cheer Appeal.
“It has given us a real boost. It buys an incredible amount of goods for people who access us for support over Christmas; people who can’t afford to feed their kids or who just need a bit of a helping hand,” she said.
“Anything left over will go towards our emergency relief fund so we can purchase more vouchers and food items for people who access us for support.
“It’s fantastic because we rely on government funding, which we have lost for next year for our emergency relief program, so any donations that we get from the community are fantastic.”
The centre’s purpose is to provide valuable information to locals and improve connections within the community through workshops, a range of social groups, and emergency relief when required.