We congratulate Tony Clark of Backpack Bed for Homeless on his successful application to the Dan Holzapfel Entrepreneurial Program. Tony Clark has been successful in gaining $18 000 funding towards his business, Backpack Bed for the Homeless.
Tony Clark was the 2012 Australia day Local Hero and nominated for Australian of the Year in 2015 and 2016 and through Backpack Bed for the Homeless has distributed over 30 000 beds to street-sleeping homeless people through 600 homeless agencies worldwide. The backpack Bed is a multi-award winning design that converts a lightweight 3kg Backpack capable of carrying 20kg into an all-weather single person tent.
Funding awarded through the Dan Holzapfel Entrepreneurial Grant will be used to further develop the Lite Trex fabric that is waterproof, fire retardant, breathable, and provides an all-round better product for those sleeping rough worldwide. Redland Foundation President Don Seccombe stated, ‘the incredible impact Backpack Bed for the Homeless has had in providing a dignified nights sleep for those on the streets is both inspiring and life changing. With this funding we are looking forward to seeing the impact Tony and his team will have.”
When meeting with the Redland Foundation to advise of his successful application, Tony of Backpack Bed for the Homeless said, “Dan Holzapfel is inspiration and I hope our LiteTrex fabric can save as many lives as Dan has with his leadership and philanthropic successes to stamp out polio. Dan Holzapfel is blessing to humanity. Every year people die and are harmed by tents that catch fire. Without the grant from Redland Foundation – we could not tell the world of this new advanced fire retardant fabric – that is our LiteTrex® Breathe fabric (fire retardant, waterproof, breathable in a single layer). This grant allows us to create a professional website and video clips to better present our scientific success – so as the annual $1+ billion USD global camping tent market can discover our safe fire retardant fabric – which will ultimately save the lives of campers sleeping in tents. This is a game changer for tent fabric used globally.”
