Pinky Callwood decided to do something completely different for his birthday this year.
Rather than have a party he told his friends not to buy him any presents but to donate what ever they could to help the homeless living on the streets of Brighton.
Pinky contacted local hotels and approached business’s asking them to help too. After lots of telephone calls the donations came flooding in.
Blankets were donated by the Holiday Inn Hotel. Pies were donated by Higgidy Pie. Pinky also bought toiletries as he knew they would also be needed. His friend Mel Humphrey’s baked cup cakes so that Pinky could share birthday cakes with the homeless on his birthday.
With his friends Sami, Bobby and Robert….he booked four large taxi’s to carry 50 bags of food and 50 blankets to St James Street Brighton – a location well-known to homeless people and began giving away the items to those in need.
As luck would have it another friend Stephanie Starlet, who is a well-known entertainer was walking by and saw what was happening. Stephanie sent a message out on Facebook inviting the homeless to turn up and collect the food and blankets.
Within minutes Starlet’s post went viral with over 500 likes and over 100 shares.
Pinky said: “This proved without any doubt that the LGBT Communities in Brighton have a big heart and really do care about the lives of homeless people in Brighton.”
It took a few hours to distribute the food and blankets with the remainder being taken to New Stein Mews Shelter, to the delight of staff and residents.
What’s even more heart warming is that Pinky was actually homeless himself and took the time to help others.
Just two 2 days after this gesture, Pinky collected the keys to his new home and is no longer homeless.
Pinky would like to thank all those who helped including Amy B at Higgdy Pie, Mel Humphrey’s for baking birthday cupcakes, Members of The New Shoreham by Sea Facebook, Alexander Winehouse, Mary Kaye, Paul Okenden, Stephanie Starlet, Robert Anthony, Sami Oh Kirli, Bobby Gore, Rogerio Calaca and all the LGBT Community of Brighton & Hove for their kindness and support.