Basement Services hit hard by virus outbreak
THE people behind Toowoomba’s main soup kitchen and a social enterprise cafe have revealed the coronavirus outbreak has slashed revenue and made it harder to keep offering meals to the city’s disadvantaged.
Base Services founder Nat Spary, who runs the Basement Soup Kitchen on Neil St, said he and his wife Tiff had lost 70 per cent of their revenue thanks to loss of sponsorship and the cancellation of events.
The organisation also operates the 2nd Shot Cafe and associated coffee truck, which trains people battling homelessness and other disadvantages to earn hospitality certificates and a living.
But Mr Spary said the outbreak of the virus and the Federal Government’s ban on gatherings above 500 people wiped two months’ worth of event bookings off their schedule.
“Basically everything is being cancelled. We had Harmony Day, the REMAX Easter Egg Hunt, cross country at schools, and other school events (lined up),” he said.
“On Saturday, we had a conference, 60th birthday parties. We also go to workplaces (in the truck), and some of those businesses have said they’re not opening their workplaces.
“Two months’ worth of events are gone, and that’s 70 per cent of our income. I’m just counting up all the petty cash and banking it.”
Mr Spary said it was keeping the physical cafe on Ruthven St open to generate revenue and keep people employed.
“I don’t want to reduce staff, because all the staff at 2nd Shot are in training or have graduated from the program,” he said.
“It’s devastating. I feel like we’ll get through it, but it’s really going to affect people’s income.”
To make matters worse, he reported the soup kitchen had experienced a larger influx of people wanting a meal.
With the Federal Government today banning gatherings of more than 100 people indoors, Mr Spary said the organisation would have take steps to ensure it could still open.
“Our numbers increased hugely in the last eight weeks. Every day we’ve had 100 people,” he said.
Mr Spary asked people to consider getting their coffee at the cafe and to donate food to the soup kitchen.