ACA pairs up with Foodbank to help hungry families this Christmas

The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) has joined forces with Foodbank to support families doing it tough this festive season, asking members to fundraise within their centres and forward the funds to ACA to enable a collective donation to Foodbank.

Last year fundraising efforts by ACA member sites raised enough funds to purchase 59 meal boxes which were sent to families in need over the holiday season.

According to the Foodbank Hunger Report 2018, over 4 million Australians have experienced uncertainty around where their next meal is coming from in the last 12 months. This is an in increase of 400,000 people since the 2017 report.  

Australians living in regional and remote areas are 33 per cent more likely to have experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months than those living in cities, and sadly children represent 22 per cent of all food insecure Australians.

This year’s “Bringing the heart of Australia together this Christmas“ appeal aims to allow those families struggling to put food in their cupboards to enjoy some essential food items this Christmas, enabling them to bring their family together, celebrate and create new memories.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services Australia-wide were urged by ACA to take part and support the initiative, the results of which will be announced in mid-December 2018.  

To support the fundraising effort, service providers may like to:

• let families know about the fundraiser by handing out or displaying the poster or sharing a link in a newsletter;

• organise a gold coin donation ‘dress up’ day;

• organise a Christmas bake sale – parents donate baked goods to sell, with the proceeds donated to the appeal;

• organise a gold coin donation Christmas performance for parents;

• place a “Bringing the heart of Australia together this Christmas” donation tin or box in your reception area using the label;

• print out the colouring-in sheet and share it with the children to decorate and put on display;

• print out the Christmas decoration tokens ($5, $10, $20, $50) and put them on the services Christmas tree or hang them somewhere as decorations to reflect the level of funding raised for the cause; or,

• take some photos of your activities related to this appeal (with permissions if required) and post them to Facebook using the hashtag #FoodbankAusChristmas so the Australian community can see and share your pictures.

For more information about the fundraising, visit the ACA website.