Last Saturday, Empowered Champions hosted their first of hopefully many more, garage sale fundraisers, with more than 100 customers passing through the doors at 407 Argent Street.
Harley Cannard, from Empowered Champions, said the purpose of the event was to teach their participants about customer service, sales, and entrepreneurship.
“It was great to see our participants take accountability for their stalls, because they organised their own stalls from the concept of stall design to the concept of selling a product,” a proud Mr Cannard mentioned.
“Not only was it a great event, but it also helped our participants to see what’s involved in setting up a stall, as well as being able to declutter things they no longer needed,” he added.
Overall, six participants opened stalls throughout the day, with one participant making more than $250 from their stall.
In total, the participants raised more than $600 from their stalls, which they get to keep. Additionally, the hub raised $1,700, which will be reinvested into the hub for future events.
Mr Cannard noted that the garage sale fundraiser is an event he is keen to see hosted monthly because “this teaches life skills and independence, and that’s what we’re big on.”
Empowered Champions already host monthly events through their program, EC Socials, but he added that “this one hit differently because something so small for us was so significant for the participants.”
EC Socials is accessible to and available for anyone to join, regardless of their association or whether they are currently a customer of another NDIS provider.
Mr Cannard’s wife and business partner, Rebecca Blundell, stated that the purpose of EC Socials is to allow participants “to enjoy themselves and have fun while developing skills socially.”
She went on to note that Empowered Champions has been operating for almost five years, with the organisation setting up its physical shopfront earlier this year.
In an earlier interview with the Truth, Mr Cannard and Ms Blundell said that Empowered Champions is an “all-abilities support business that supports participants who are part of the NDIS.”
“We support them with daily living, social and community participation, as well as exercise and wellness, meal preparation, shopping, and transport,” Mr Cannard added.
Ms Blundell concluded by noting that Empowered Champions has a number of events on their calendar leading into 2024, including an NDIS dating evening, which will see the organisation hosting a date night.
For now, though, six local participants will be counting their earnings and reminiscing on a terrific outcome for their event, thanks to the support of the local community.
Empowered Champions can be contacted at [email protected], or on 0434 049 118.
