Luncheon Club crunch time
Sydney's ARQ Angels are gearing up to give the Luncheon Club a helping hand, reports Andrew Georgiou
Friday's fundraiser aims to raise much needed stock
"Would you like to give some small change to the Luncheon Club?" asks the 63-year-old volunteer posing as a door bitch at the entrance of an Oxford Street nightclub. "Nah. What's it for anyway?" replies a nonchalant 18-year-old gay man, too young to have known the impact the AIDS crisis had on our city the year he was born. She politely gives him the short version. "We feed people living with AIDS, love." The shock that people are still affected by the virus is written all over his face and results in the loud clank of a two dollar coin hitting the half-empty bucket's base.
This is Ground Hog Day for Luncheon Club's tireless volunteers.
This grassroots charity, which runs on the vapours from the smell of an oily rag, has been providing twice-weekly lunches, support and a groceries larder to people living with HIV/AIDS, many of whom are living well below the poverty line. "While the community response was at its greatest during the crisis peak in the late 80s to mid-90s, it seems the plight of a disease which effects us today can sometimes falls on deaf ears when it comes to Sydney's younger gay community, many of whom have never witnessed the disease's very graphic and confronting impact," says the Luncheon Club's Carol Ann King. "They are our community's next generation of leaders and we need their support now."
With the help of a cavalcade of Sydney's top-shelf queens, King and her family of volunteers are taking the Luncheon Club to the dance floor to shed some light on the cause. Friday night will see ARQ nightclub host a virtual Drag-athon as part of Luncheon Club's fundraising extravaganza. " It's going to be huge!" says King in her signature gruff voice. "The response from our talented community has been overwhelming and we are hell bent on putting on a bloody great night."
The night will see some 20 drag queens - including Mitzi Macintosh, Minnie Cooper, Kitty Glitter and the irreverent Joyce Mange - lip synch themselves into a tight corner while the city's hottest DJs Jake Kilby, Luke Leal, Sandi Hotrod and crew man and lady the decks, dishing up the night's deepest grooves. Accompanying them will be singers Natalie Colavito, Zach Avanti and Ray Isaac, backed by a line up of fresh and funked up dancers.
Volunteer Lance Day says: "The Luncheon Club is facing some very tough times and, after over 15 years of giving, we need to ask the community for a little help ourselves."
The Luncheon Club's fundraiser kicks off at ARQ Nightclub, 16 Flinders Street Darlinghurst, on Friday 9 May at 9pm. Just $5 at the door plus donation. Generosity greatly appreciated.