25 May 2018
$10k grant helps feed hungry kids
Posted in Chaplaincy / School life / SU QLD
School children in the Lockyer Valley who miss breakfast, and those who just love to catch up with mates over a piece of toast, have been given a $10,000 helping hand thanks to a Commonwealth Bank grant.
SU QLD regional manager, Melina Wildolf, said the grant money, which came from local Commonwealth Bank staff volunteering some of their salary to support their community, would be injected into 19 Lockyer Valley school breakfast programs.
“The money will either support existing breakfast clubs or seed funding for a new breakfast program to start if the schools are interested in starting one,” Melina said.
“I met the Commonwealth Bank branch manager to discuss school chaplaincy in the Lockyer Valley because he was keen to use the grant money for something that benefited children in need. I suggested breakfast clubs because he has seen the amazing benefits of chaplains running breakfast clubs, especially during the 2011 floods.”
Melina said being able to strengthen breakfast clubs would help more than just the students who, for any number of reasons, went to school hungry every day.
“In the Lockyer Valley we have a diverse range of families but a breakfast club is not just for feeding hungry kids – it also creates a fun, safe place for children and young people and their families to build relationships and get to know each other better,” she said.
Many school breakfast programs around Queensland are run by school chaplains, who are only there because of loyal SU QLD, and community, supporters. To donate to support school chaplaincy, visit suqld.org.au/donate.
Grateful: David Cowie, Toowoomba FDM (left), and Ipswich Valley Somerset FDM Sharman Irvine, accept the grant certificate from Lockyer Valley Commonwealth Bank branch managers Gavin Little (second from right) and Bill Howard (second from left).
