The Rotary Club of Osborne Park worked with several organisations and multiple volunteers to pack and send 123 Children’s Christmas Backpacks (including 14 Mum and Bub packs) to children needing support- and fun! at Christmas in Leonora, Boddington, Newman and Kenwick. The project has been a passion for Dawn Brodie, who has driven it and arranged similar shipments on previous years.
Donations for the backpacks have come from a wide variety of people and organisations as well as Rotary. These include but are not limited to: Earthwise Community Association, Cambridge Croquet Club, Buy Nothing Site Shenton Park, Fly2Health and the Menora Foundation.
Three backpacking sessions with Rotarians, and the amazing friends of Rotary were held. The backpacks were then taken out by a wide variety of volunteers and vehicles- including the pilots’ vehicles for the oversize vehicles heading to the Pilbara and LR Logistics. The Christmas Backpacks were then given to Aboriginal Elders and Youth Leaders in Leonora, Boddington, Newman and Kenwick.
In addition to the backpacks, Foodbank kindly provided 8 boxes of non-perishable food, 15 vanity packs and 6 buckets with cleaning items, that were sent out with the backpacks. Also, two boxes of glasses, mainly from SpecSavers, were sent by request to the Pilbara and schoolchildren at a school in Maddington put together 5 ‘Embrace Your Strength’ bags for women going through domestic violence and gave them to the club to also donate.
It’s great to know that the Rotary Club of Osborne Park have been able to make Christmas happen for 123 children and families around Western Australia. As with any Rotary program and activity, at the end of the day we get back as much as we give!