Supporting the Salvos virtual door-knock in Perth

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused huge upheaval to people, businesses and charities. One charity that knows all too well, not just because of the challenges it has faced, but also because of the challenges faced by the people it seeks to help, is The Salvation Army (Salvos).

We are a nationwide corporate supporter of The Salvos, and wholeheartedly believe in the charity’s ethos and the work it does on our local streets. We’ve partnered on terrific initiatives over the past several years, including soup kitchen events in Perth. Once a month, before starting work, three volunteers from JLL rise early and meet at the Salvation Army Northbridge headquarters to prepare and serve food to less fortunate people in the community. Not a bad way to start a week in our opinion!

This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, The Salvos was unable to hold its annual Red Shield Appeal corporate breakfast. It resolved instead to hold a ‘virtual’ door-knock, to which many of our staff gave generously.

Moved by this wonderful organisation, our Perth community engagement committee wanted to supplement this event by hosting a silent auction. We put out a call to all staff in WA to volunteer already owned and made items from all the secret green thumbs, DIY-ers, craft-loving and photo-shooting staff. We were astounded at the response we got from our staff. We hauled in items such as baked goods vouchers, indoor plants, designer handbags, house cleaning services, gourmet hampers and even multiple pieces of artwork from our very own secret artists! It was not only a pleasure getting so many great items to sell, but awesome learning more about our valuable staff and their hidden passions.

From the combination of the virtual door knock and silent auction, our WA staff raised more than $3,000 for The Salvation Army this year.