Housing and Homelessness

Lacy lingerie helps the homeless

AAP February 8, 2017

< 1 min read

While lacy lingerie may be a popular gift for a Valentine, a Sydney charity says a humble pair of clean Y-fronts can change someone’s day.

On February 14, at least 50 homeless people will head to Sydney’s Wayside Chapel, needing showers and clean undies.

“Try to imagine for a minute [having] no undies or only the pair you had on yesterday and how that would change your day,” Reverend Graham Long told AAP.

“For someone whose life has hit the gutter and is at the bottom, a gesture like a clean pair of undies can crack through their shell.”

But undies can be expensive – 50 pairs a day equals more than 18,000 a year – and The Wayside Chapel needs help.

“We get to Valentine’s Day and so much money goes on stuff that lasts a day -flowers, chocolates or something,” Long said.

“If you want to convince someone that you’re a loving, compassionate and generous person, how about you give them a card from us saying ‘I just got you a pair of undies and I gave it to someone for whom it means the world’.”

Long is encouraging people to donate underwear to The Wayside Chapel next Tuesday on valentines day.