One of Ballarat’s beloved bakeries, Emma’s Bakery, was recently involved in a drive to give back to the community.

The bakery agreed to donate all of the money from their coffee sales on 11 November to the Future Shapers sleepbus proposal.

The initiative aims to help get homeless people off the streets by providing a safe, clean, and comfortable place for them to sleep—a bus!

Each bus can help a minimum of 20 people, and the initiative has already been a huge success across Maroochydore, Melbourne, and Sydney.

Emma Conroy, the owner of Emma’s Bakery, told The Courier, “Our store is always up for fundraising. We do multiple fundraisers throughout the year because when a community gives me so much, the least I can do is give back to the community.”

She continued, “So a sleep bus, I believe, is especially important for Ballarat, especially though the winter months when it’s so, so cold. Being a baker, you drive around sometimes at night, or if I do the banking in the middle of the night down in Sturt Street, you can see the homeless, sleeping in little nooks, and it’s always so cold, so I thought this was a great opportunity for us to give back.”

At the end of the day, Emma says the bakery raised at least $1,000 for the cause through coffee sales and donation collection.