A founder of a local charity has outlined his brave property development plan to help fund not-for-profit groups now and into the future.
Mark and Gayle Forbes, who launched endED to help people with eating issues in 2016, have purchased a 10-acre block of land at Dulong.
They plan to subdivide it and sell the blocks.
A majority of any profits would be shared by endED and other local charities, while a portion of any profits would be used to do the same thing over again.
That could ensure the longevity of endED and other groups, while providing them with much-needed funding for years to come.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
The Forbes had to take out a line of credit on their house to buy the land at 10-24 Thrushs Road for $1.5 million in June, but Mr Forbes said it would be worth it.
“This doesn’t faze me,” he said. “I put the charity first.”
“I just do what’s in the best interests of the charity, so we can keep funding it.”
EndED supports people in their journey to recover from eating issues and eating disorders.
It opened a House of Hope and Peaceful Park on a one-hectare property at West Woombye last year.
Mr Forbes said endED essentially needed about $500,000 per year to operate and could not rely on fundraising activities and government support.
“You can do all the fundraisers you like. We did a beauty with Aitken Legal a couple of months ago which raised $140,000 but that’s still a long way shy of half a million dollars a year,” he said.
“And we’ve realised that governments aren’t going to give us anything, so this (property venture) is the only way I could see that we could make our charity self-sufficient.
“We’re going to have enough (money) left over to seed the next development, so then it becomes sustainable.”
Mr Forbes, who is also the chairman of endED, said he had tried lobbying state and federal governments “for a long time” to no avail and he sought a left-field solution.
“I thought ‘how are we going to keep funding our charity?’” he said.
“Then the property at Dulong popped up and we had a look at it, and we thought that if we personally do this development, we can donate the funds back to our charity as a sustainable model.”
He plans to split the land (about four hectares) into six blocks and sell them.
Mr Forbes said council approval was granted for the first block before Christmas, and it’s now on the market.
He also said other charities stood to benefit from the land sales, with some of the profits to be sent their way.
“A lot of other local charities are in our shoes: they can’t get funding,” he said.
“We have had relationships with them for years and supported each other, so I told them what we are doing and that we’d done the numbers, and we’d like to be able to help them.”
Among the groups set to benefit is Connect Kids, an organisation that supports vulnerable children and their families.
“They (the charities’ endeavours) cross over,” Mr Forbes said.
“And it’s the same with other charities we’re supporting. They’re all in the mental health sphere.”
Connect Kids CEO Gordon Barratt said he was stunned by the offer from Mr Forbes, who was recognised as the Sunshine Coast Council’s Citizen of 2020 for his charity work.
“Connect Kids is all about collaborating with like-minded organisations to get the best outcomes for those we support, however never in my wildest dreams did I think that a collaboration with another like-minded organisation would result in this level of support and generosity,” he said.
“This is a game-changer and allows us to break out of the constraints imposed on us through a lack of funds and make a much greater impact on those we engage”.
Mr Forbes said other charities likely to be involved would be named “when the time is right”.
Scroll down to SUBSCRIBE for our FREE news feed, direct to your inbox daily.
