What better time of year to spread love and joy to the most vulnerable in the community than at Christmas, and that is exactly what Ipswich Jets will do with their first Christmas breakfast for the homeless.
Jets chief executive officer Richard Hughes said Christmas was one of the toughest and loneliest times of the year for a homeless person, so the vision for the breakfast was simple - "fill stomachs and hearts".
"Obviously, we will have beautiful freshly cooked food on the morning such as bacon, eggs, sausages, and hotcakes, along with fresh fruit, tea, and coffee... but as Christmas is the time of giving, we also plan to give the homeless community some gifts," Hughes said.
"For each person that attends, we will give them a pack, consisting of some practical items for a person living on the streets as well as heart-warming personal touches included as well.
"On top of all of this, we plan to have portable bathrooms available for our guests to be able to have a hot shower, wash their hair and have a shave and hopefully with help from Orange Sky, we will have a washing machine van available, to be able to wash and dry what personal belongings they have."
The breakfast will run from 7am until 10am on Christmas Day in the car park of the Jets Leagues Club, in the undercover area. Hughes, along with Jets players, staff, board members and sponsors, will be there.
"We rely heavily on the community and partners to deliver on something like this, but we did want to extend an extra special thank you to the Jets Leagues Club for all they are doing to help facilitate this," Hughes said.
"They have backed us with going out to suppliers and their partners and staff and everyone is generously donating their time and goods for the sake of this event.
"Josh Chandler, our wellbeing officer, has been coordinating the whole event over several months, so without his continued dedication, commitment, and passion, we could not have done any of this."
Hughes, as the club enters its 40th anniversary year, said this was an initiative the Jets wanted to commit to doing every year, with the support of the Jets community, staff and team.
"This is our way to show that we understand the very important part we play in the community," Hughes said.
