THEY are two proud nannas who want to make sure people going through tough times have love and hope in their lives.
Jo Verhoeve and Adriana Kuhn might never meet the people they help, but knowing they have made a positive difference inspires them to keep going.
The Capalaba sisters, who collect and make items for the needy, started Love and Hope Redlands in November 2017 to help children.
However, the cause quickly evolved to cater to anyone going through desperate times.
“There is so much sadness and people fall through the cracks,” Ms Kuhn said.
“You don’t realise how people do it so tough. People who lose their jobs, people who get ill.”
Love and Hope Redlands collects items like babies wear, clean linen and children’s clothes for charities including Centre for Women.
Home cooked meals are also prepared and school book lists put together.
Ms Verhoeve said the cause had since been adopted by the community, with about 15 people helping out Love and Hope Redlands when needed.
She said she and Ms Kuhn were first involved in helping families at Inala but stopped when the woman leading that project died.
The sisters wanted to keep helping people, deciding after that to focus on families in the Redlands.
“We thought, why don’t we look after our home town first?” Ms Verhoeve said.
“I wanted something to do like knitting toys. I wanted to spend time helping others. We want to give love and hope.”
So many items have since been donated to Love and Hope Redlands that space in Ms Kuhn’s ceiling is used as storage.
Ms Kuhn’s front living room is packed with items and the rest of her house filled up too.
Ms Kuhn said extra space was desperately needed, with the pair after a self-storage space to be donated by a generous individual or business.
Ms Kuhn said Love and Hope Redlands would be incorporated in the coming weeks.
Someone able to donate their time and expertise with financial audits was also on the wish list.
“Our aim is to not have anyone paid as an employee,” she said. “Everything is to go to the cause.”
Ms Kuhn said she and her sister remembered what it was like to be in poor.
The two had emigrated to Australia from Holland in the 1950s as children and struggled to fit in with their foreign sounding names and language barriers.
Nearly all of the income they earned as teens was given to their parents to help support the family, with just a few shillings handed back to each for spending money.
“A lot of people then were from war-torn countries,” Ms Kuhn said.
“It wasn’t easy but you didn’t expect anything.
“We don’t want kids to feel laughed at or picked on because they don’t have the right uniforms or whatever.”
The sisters will host a monster garage sale to raise funds on Saturday, March 2 from 7am to 4pm at Gundagai Drive, Capalaba.
To donate items, contact Love and Hope Redlands via email on admin@loveandhoperedlands.com.au or message them at their Facebook page here.