NO RESTRICTIONS ON GENEROSITY
By Bayley Cocking
LOCAL café Higher Society has rallied the Ballarat community to support one business that was forced to close during Victoria’s fifth state-wide lockdown.
Upon ordering from the eatery, patrons were encouraged to fill out a recommendation slip to nominate a business for the donations.
Funds were raised by the café contributing 50% of all dinner item profits, as well as $1 from every egg and bacon toasted sandwich sold.
Owner Rhys Jeffrey said it was crucial to seek the community’s opinion.
“We could have picked a local business ourselves and just raised money for them, but we thought that wasn’t very fair,” he said.
“Instead, we let the community tell us which businesses deserved a helping hand.”
The recipient of the charitable donation, Jono Bui Fitness, was randomly selected out of the community-nominated businesses and announced via Instagram.
The business operates out of the one-year-old Playground Gym, which has been required to close multiple times since opening.
Mr Jeffrey said supporting local businesses has never been more important.
“We have been very lucky to be considered an essential service during lockdowns, especially when so many other businesses have been forced to close,” he said.
“We do our best to give back to the community when we can, as they’ve given us so much.”
Jono Bui Fitness offers face-to-face and online personal training sessions, which were negatively impacted by the latest lockdown.
Founder Jono Bui said he was “shocked” when he saw that he had won the monies.
“I remember seeing that Higher Society had tagged me in their Instagram story, which I thought was a bit odd,” he said.
“When I realised that I was the receiver of the donations, I think I just sat in stunned silence for the rest of the night.”
At the start of the year, Jono Bui Fitness partnered with the Playground Gym before the fitness centre was shut down twice due to COVID restrictions.
Mr Bui said the donated funds would assist him greatly with reinvesting in himself.
“Running a business during this time has not been without its challenges,” he said.
“But this amazing act from Higher Society will really help me to keep doing what I’m doing and giving everything I can to my clients.”
Higher Society was opened in 2019, and has since held many fundraising events for the Ballarat community.
