Anything For Charity

Last Thursday, an article about Cappuccino for a Cause appeared in Annette Sharp's Sydney Confidential column in The Daily Telegraph. The piece gave attention to a great initiative supporting the prevention of poverty - during International Poverty Week. Thank you Annette and The Daily Telegraph.

A couple of hours later I received a phone call from the PR company that provides services to Gloria Jeans Coffees, an organisation for which I am a franchisee. The PR company had received a phone call from social columnist Ros Reines and she was apparently asking questions about the Mercy Ministries and my involvement with Gloria Jeans. I assured the concerned PR that Ros would have been following a lead, rather than attempting to muckrake. I've known Ros for 25 years and that's how she operates. I've also been a tabloid journalist and a lead is a scent to follow-up.

I mention this because my inbox was full with concerned emails from friends and colleagues this morning following an article that appeared in Ros's column in The Sunday Telegraph.

"It looked like she was trying to stitch you up but it ended up being good publicity for you," wrote a friend.

Not true (re: the stitch-up). Ros and I had a phone conversation about this on Friday evening. The chat was positive and she was following up on a suggested lead.

Cappuccino for a Cause was a great success in my Gloria Jeans store - mezzanine level of Borders Bookstore, Westfield, Bondi Junction - due largely to the help of some fantastic people and products.

Huge recognition must go to: Melissa Hoyer, Channel 9 fashion commentator and writer; Zoe Foster, editor-in-chief of Australia's best beauty website PRIMPED.com.au; Alicia Richardson, editor of Australia's new, stylish wedding website TheKnot.com.au and Yasmin Boland, astrologer for Body & Soul, Cleo and Madison. Each woman twittered about her in-store appearance. Yasmin also alerted her following to her appearance in-store via her website and they came in droves. She charged them a small fee for a reading and all proceeds were donated directly to our cause.

These are four incredibly generous people.










Revlon donated 200 units of full-size lipstick and nail polish to support our efforts. It was certainly an enticing offer that saw many customers make the switch to a cappuccino and support the cause. Many customers mentioned they would now be choosing Revlon products over all others because of the beauty brand's strong show of support for victims of poverty.







Netball Australia donated a Gilbert netball, boasting autographs from the world champion Australian Diamonds.













Author Jessica Adams, a known supporter of charities that assist the less fortunate, donated 10 signed copies of her books Vintage Alice and The Summer Psychic.



















Jo from solutionliving.com.au donated 8 eco-friendly products that clean your home and help save the environment at the same time.

A special mention must also go to Kerrie and Tessa of Instyle magazine who generously offered to hand out our Cappuccino for a Cause postcards to the many women who attended their style workshops in Westfield, Bondi Junction this week. If you haven't had the chance to get there to see one of their workshops in action, you should do so this week. A brilliant magazine produced by some genuinely charitable people.

It was so incredibly generous of all of those companies and people to donate their products and time for this worthwhile cause. Let's offer them our support in future.

I am grateful to my wonderful team who work at Gloria Jeans Borders Bondi Junction: manager Nick Meng and the crew who helped make October 16 and 17 a success: Joe, Simon, Desiree, Clara, Jackson, Lucy, Dennon, Felicia and Emily. They run my show and worked tirelessly behind the scenes and behind the counter to make Cappuccino for a Cause happen.