Bunnings Suspends Sausage Sizzles Due to Coronavirus Fears

The shockwaves of COVID-19 are rippling far and wide throughout the global community, with events being cancelled, businesses shutting up shop, and entire regions being placed into lockdown. In times of global pandemic, these strong measures are to be expected. But as the situation continues to escalate around the world, it seems as though coronavirus panic is seeping into and impacting every corner of modern society.

As a case in point, Bunnings is putting its iconic sausage sizzles on indefinite hiatus. NewsCorp reports that an impact on the availability of supplies has driven the hardware retailer to make the “tough decision” and suspend all sizzles for the time being.

“Having listened closely to community groups, we’ve learned of the challenges many groups are facing finding volunteers and even supplies to sell given some of the reported challenges being faced by other retailers,” Bunnings Managing Director Mike Schneider said in a statement. “We also want to make sure our team remain[s] focused on helping customers to access the products they need.

“We absolutely understand the important role these sausage sizzles play for thousands of local community groups and charities and that finding alternative fundraising opportunities at short notice isn’t easy,” he added.

And he’s not wrong. In addition to being an iconic part of modern Australian culture and cuisine, the weekly Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraisers are a hugely popular way for local community groups to raise money for a variety of causes. A Bunnings employee told VICE that dates for barbecue fundraisers are often booked out months in advance, and speculated that at some of the larger stores a group could raise anywhere between $3000 and $5000 in a single day.

Schneider is aware of these financial repercussions, and indicated that measures will be rolled out to mitigate the impact on community groups. Anyone who has booked a sausage sizzle for the next month will receive $500 gift cards from Bunnings in order to help with their fundraising, he said—a donation that equates to a total investment of more than $1.2 million to local groups across Australia and New Zealand.

“There’s no doubt that our decision will disappoint some people in the community,” Schneider said, “and we can’t wait to bring this much-loved community program back.”

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