Ten Ballarat primary school pupils are selling their own toys, arts and crafts – and other donated goods – to raise money for the homeless.
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Ballarat Kids Fighting Homelessness was the brainchild of St James Parish School pupil Camden who was saddened to see homeless people in winter during a trip to Melbourne last year.
When he told his friends how he felt about what he saw, they decided they wanted to help make a difference.
Five big-hearted kids set about a fundraising campaign of doing household chores for $1 to donate to help those with nowhere to live, raising $74 with which they bought canned foods to donate to a homeless shelter.
When the temperature dropped again this year, team member Indy decided to reinvigorate the campaign and set a much higher goal.
“I want to raise money for people who are homeless because I don’t like that we all have money and homes and they don’t,” she said.
“I feel sad because it's not really fair that they are all cold while we are warm. And that they are hungry when we have so much food that our tummies are full.”
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This year the team has doubled to 10 and the fundraising chores are again being carried out at full speed, but this time they’ve also launched a garage sale and online campaign that has already raised more than $700 for The Soup Bus.
“I thought they’d just do chores but they decided they wanted to do a garage sale and sell chocolates and lollies,” said Maria Marshall, mother of several of the children.
Isaac said the team had also been saving their own pocket money to donate, putting it in a saving jar to resist the temptation to spend it.
Indy, Isaac, Ace, Serae, Elyse, Zaihret, Luke, Sienna, Camden and Hudson have cleared their cupboards, sorted their toys and been busy creating craft items to sell at the garage sale at St James Parish Hall in Sebastopol on July 14.
The children are also seeking donations of items for the garage sale (no furniture), which will be accepted on July 12 and 13 from 11am to 2pm at the hall.
The garage sale will run from 9am on July 14 at St James Parish Hall, 252-258 Albert St, Sebastopol with 100 per cent of the takings being donated to The Soup Bus. Direct donations can also be made at chuffed.org/project/ballarat-kids-fighting-homelessness
