Primary School students at Matthew Flinders Anglican College have presented Sunshine Coast charity SunnyKids with a giant cheque to signify a $3,000 donation raised through a recent fundraiser at the College.
SunnyKids’ Charity Manager, Mrs Debbie Battaglini and Service Delivery Manager, Ms Kathleen Hope thanked students for the donation and spoke about the support disadvantaged children and families will receive as a result of their generosity.
Students raised the funds through the College’s Read for Change fundraiser, which was held in June and raised a whopping $14,000 over just seven days.
The fundraiser involved 250 Flinders students from Prep to Year 6 who read hundreds of books to raise this incredible sum from their sponsors who were friends, family and members of the local community.
The fundraiser was facilitated by the Primary School’s Staff and Student Council, which each Semester gives up to 30 students from Years 3 to 6 a turn to lead the school’s community service efforts with guidance from Head of Junior Primary, Chris Curtain and Head of Senior Primary, Ingrid Clarke.
Ms Chris Curtain said SunnyKids was one of the College’s chosen charities to support.
“SunnyKids has been in operation for 16 years, supporting disadvantaged children on the Sunshine Coast where there are approximately 5,000 at-risk children identified every year,” Ms Chris Curtain said.
“Our College proudly commits to sponsoring one child in need in the community each year,” she said.
“This year, the Read for Change fundraiser was so successful that our College’s Staff and Student Council was able to increase our donation to SunnyKids, resulting in support for five children in the coming year.
“Our College community is thrilled that our collective fundraising efforts have resulted in enabling more disadvantaged children to access the health, education and child protection agencies they need to keep safe.”
Raised funds were also directed to the College’s other key charities such as World Vision and the Murilla Community Centre, supporting rural communities in the Miles district.
A portion of the funds was also used to create a giant art mural in the Primary School campus.
The mural was painted by leading Queensland public artist David Houghton, who also facilitated creative workshops with students as artist-in-residence during Term 3.
Head of Senior Primary Ingrid Clarke said Flinders was committed to giving every child frequent opportunities to be involved in fundraising projects.
“We want every student at Flinders to experience the satisfaction of caring for others and being a force for positive change in the world,” Mrs Clarke said.
“The Flinders Staff and Student Council provides an opportunity for our Primary School students from Year 3 to Year 6 to learn how to contribute and serve their community.
“This year, the Council’s overarching values, chosen by the students, are to contribute to having a happy safe school, to encourage others to speak up and join in, and to take action to create change in the world, no matter how small the steps.
“We can safely say the students at our College are stepping into these values most admirably.”
For more information about SunnyKids, please visit the website here.
