Container of Hope

The Wynn Vale man said the couple realised there was a significant need for more supplies – everyday essentials and medical equipment – and so had an idea to start sending shipping containers filled with products to developing countries.

“Kerrie – my wife – and I did two short missionary trips to India about 10 years ago to build a babies’ home and we realised there was a need for more over there,” Mr Moore, 65, said.

“So my mate bought us a 40ft container and we just started putting stuff into it – bails of clothing, hospital beds with mattresses, household items, craft supplies, toys, computers, stationary, hospital linen, medical gear, and tables and chairs.

“We also found out about Rotary’s in-kind donations, so that helped as well.”

Mr Moore’s organisation, called Container of Hope, has since sent about 30 shipping containers to communities in Vanuatu, India, Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He manages to juggle the project with his full time role as the owner of Adelaide-based Optimum LifeFocus Financial Planning, dedicating one day each week to physical labour.

“Every Thursday, I take off to do Container of Hope – the physical side, helping the guys out with the containers, not the paperwork side of it,” Mr Moore said.

His dedication to improving the lives of those living in poverty has earned him the main honour in Salisbury Council’s Living Legends Awards, announced last week.

Mr Moore, who is also the president of the Salisbury Rotary Club, said the award was the perfect way to celebrate the work his organisation did each year.

“It’s nice to have that recognition, but for me it’s also about recognising all the guys who are caring for other people, and also to get the name out there,” Mr Moore said.

Click here to see the full media release in FPA’s Financial Planning Publication of May 2016

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA), today announced that Christopher Moore, CFP® from Optimum LifeFocus Financial Planning in Adelaide, isthe winner of the 2015 Future2 Community Service Award.

The Future2 Community Service Award recognises FPA members who have, in a pro-bono, volunteering or community service capacity, made an outstanding contribution to improving the circumstances of the most socially excluded or financially disadvantaged members of the community. Mr Moore has had a successful 40 year career in banking, finance and financial planning, while at the same time contributing significantly to the community through his work for a number of charities, including Container of Hope (COH), which he founded with his wife five years ago. The purpose of COH is to send shipping containers full of donated and recycled goods to poor and vulnerable communities around the world. In the five years since the company sent its first container to Vanuatu, it has sent 15 more to countries such as Uganda, Sierra Leone and South Sudan.

According to Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, “Chris has significantly improved the future of some of the most disadvantaged people in the world.” Chris works tirelessly for the disadvantaged both at home as well as abroad. Through his work with Rotary, the Lions Club and Mission World Aid, he shares not only his time, but has also mentored at – risk youth, offering not just life skills and coaching, but also his financial expertise.” Mr Rantall went on to say that all of the candidates for the Future2 Community Service Award this year were outstanding. “It is clear that each of the applicants have worked tirelessly to improve the circumstances of disadvantaged communities. Financial planners really do change lives, far beyond the lives of clients. Many are
making a real difference to their wider communities,” he said. Mr Moore said that he was really pleased to receive this award in recognition of his work for charity. “The award gives
me the ability to encourage others to take any opportunity to help those they can. If I can significantly improve the life of even one disadvantaged person, I will feel I have succeeded,” he
said.

The FPA Awards are being presented throughout the FPA Professionals Congress in Brisbane.

CHRISTOPHER Moore says bringing back electricity to a village in Burundi that had been without power for 25 years is among the fondest memories of his charity work.

Rebels has blown up the hydro-electric plant in Rweza and the African villagers had no money to pay for a new power source.

Mr Moore said he set up the charity Container Of Hope four years ago so he could help connect people in disadvantaged area overseas with the items that were no longer needed by businesses, charities and government agencies here.

“To get a generator was unbelievable to them,” Mr Moore says. “You could tell by the smiles on their faces.  They were thrilled to have power back.”

Container Of Hope has sent good worth millions of dollars to people desperately in need in countries such as Vanuatu, India, Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Each of them is filled with goods such as clothes, linen and medical equipment, but more unusual items like a humidicrib and a four-wheel drive.

The Wynn Vale man’s work has been recognised with a nomination for News Corp Australia’s Pride of Australia medal in the Community Spirit category.

It started when Mr Moore’s wife Kerrie, who works at a nursing home at Paradise, told him about hospital beds the were being thrown away.

At the time, he thought back to hospitals the couple had visited in India as missionaries years before.

“Just compared to anything else I had seen, it was extremely primitive,” Mr Moore says.

Container Of Hope has also been helped by donations from Mr Moore’s contacts as a financial planner and by members of Rotary Club of Salisbury, where he is the membership director.

Mr Moore says he is motivated by his strong Christian beliefs.

Pride of Australia Medal winners will be honoured at a state medal ceremony at Adelaide Oval in October.

They are eligible to win the Gold Medal, to be announced at a national ceremony in Sydney on December 5.

Rebels had blown up the hydro-electric plant in Rweza and the villagers had no money to pay for a new power source.

Mr Moore said he set up the charity Container of Hope four years ago so he could help connect people in disadvantaged areas overseas with items that were no longer needed by businesses, charities and government agencies here.

“To get a generator was unbelievable to them,” Mr Moore says.

“You could tell by the smiles on their faces.

“They were thrilled to have power back.”

Container of Hope has sent goods worth millions of dollars to people desperately in need in countries such as Vanuatu, India, Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Each of them is filled with goods such as clothes, linen and medical equipment, but also more unusual items like a humidicrib and a four-wheel drive.

The Wynn Vale man’s work has been recognised with a nomination for News Corp Australia’s Pride of Australia medal in the Community Spirit category.

It started when Mr Moore’s wife Kerrie, who works at a nursing home in Paradise, told him about hospital beds that were going to be thrown away to make way for new ones.

At the time, he thought back to the conditions in hospitals the couple had visited in India as missionaries years before.

“Just compared to anything else I had seen, it was extremely primitive,” Mr Moore says.

Mr Moore got hold of a shipping container through a friend and then organised space at a warehouse in Edinburgh through Rotary’s Donations in Kind program.

Container of Hope has also been helped by donations from Mr Moore’s contacts as a financial planner and by members of the Rotary Club of Salisbury, where he is the membership director.

Mr Moore says he is motivated by his strong Christian beliefs.

Sometimes the most inspiring people live and work right beside us.

Adelaidians sure are a generous bunch.

City financial planner Optimum Life Focus is about to send four 40-foot shipping containers to rural areas of India, under a partnership with aid organisation FreeToBeKids.

Optimum director Christopher Moore told Ray he started collecting unwanted office equipment, outdoor gear, computers and toys from the local community three months ago.

“I made up flyers and sent them out to anyone who was breathing,” he says. “If I met someone at a restaurant I’d hand them a flyer and of course I gave one to all my clients.

“And the response has been fantastic – there’s been big companies, schools, charities – everyone’s given us stuff.”

With the silly season just around the corner, Ray hopes others will follow suit and give a Chrissie gift to those less fortunate.