By Veronica Hall
Last year over 540,000 households in Victoria went hungry and over 365,000 children in Victoria lived in severely food insecure households. Foodbank Victoria, with its headquarters right here in Yarraville, works hard at making this situation better by sourcing food, storing it and distributing it to those in need through a range of front line charity partners. But they need money in order to do this work.
Gone Westerly is an inner-west-based folk music duo made up of Marty Fluker and myself (Veronica Hall). You may have seen us busking in and around Yarraville. Marty plays lap steel guitar and sings while I play violin. Since we have been out of Covid lockdowns, Marty and I have given nearly $15,000 of busking money to Foodbank Victoria ($1 provides two Foodbank meals). We have also given $5,000 of busking money to SleepBus.
In June last year Gone Westerly and Friends performed a Foodbank Fundraising gig at Kindred Studios (also based here in Yarraville). Many local traders including Luxsmith Restaurant, Alfa Bakehouse and Woolworths Metro provided gift vouchers that were auctioned off at the gig raising around $2,500.
Well, it’s on again!
This September Gone Westerly and Friends, in conjunction with Kindred Bandroom, will be putting on another Foodbank Fundraising Gig. This is an opportunity for you to listen to some wonderful folk music performed by some very talented musicians, and at the same time, make a donation to Foodbank Victoria. Entry is free, but you will be encouraged to toss coins or notes into the guitar case. QR codes will also be available for you to make a donation from your phone. The gift voucher auction will also be on.
Local Newport folk trio The Good Earth will open the show with their unique brand of folk songs and fiddle tunes. Their take on Footscray will be a highlight of the set. Broken Creek then weave their compelling arrangements for banjo, violin and voice that tell stories of outsiders from Australia’s past and present.
Marty and I have been busy writing new songs and we are eager to play them, as well as some of our older tunes, at this event.
So if you like folk music and would like to donate to Foodbank Victoria, this fundraiser gig is just the ticket!
Come along and enjoy foot-tapping tunes that will touch your heart and lift your spirit.
When/Where – Saturday, 9 September 2:00pm at Kindred Studios, 3 Harris St, Yarraville
