By Patrick Avenell
SYDNEY: The Good Guys in Prospect, western Sydney, has really been living up to its name recently, chipping in more than just dollars and cents to a local community project. Store proprietor Karl Holdsworth explained to Current.com.au just how important it was to serve the area in more ways than one.
As part of a national initiative that sees Good Guys stores giving 20 cents for each transaction back to the community, Good Guys Prospect currently supports Pecky’s Limited Disability Services, a locally based organization that provides entertainment and support services for intellectually and physically disabled adults.
“We sponsor them as part of Good Guys for the community, and we enjoy it,” said Holdsworth. “All the Good Guys have a project – that’s our nominated one.”
Holdsworth said that 20 cents per transaction works out at around $15,000 per year – an incredibly generous donation in itself. But just giving money wasn’t enough for this local philanthropist. After visiting Pecky’s, and seeing that more could be done, Holdsworth and co. rolled up their sleeves.
“We went out to where our money was being spent and got stuck in. There were 24 staff and trade members and we really blitzed the place; it really came up beautifully,” he said.
Trish Hickey, who is the general manager at Pecky’s, spoke very highly of the Good Guys involvement.
“After they started supporting us they had a big working bee and did an incredible amount of work,” said Hickey. “We’re in the Prospect Reservoir, so we have a lot of land. They spent a whole day, planting, cleaning up, mowing, yard work.”
The ultimate goal for both the Good Guys and Pecky’s is to build a sensory park inside the reservoir. A sensory park is a purpose built area where intellectually and physically disabled people can be stimulated, entertained and amused in ways specifically designed for their needs.
This is a fine example of how a leading local retailer is giving back to its local community. Holdsworth was non-committal on whether more retailers should do these sorts of things, saying, “it’s up to them”. And right he is, but $15,000 is a lot of money for most people, and redirection back into Prospect is good for that community. That figure – $15,000 from 20 cent transaction over 12 months – equates to around 75,000 in-store sales, and that’s good news for our community.