Guardian Pymble play their part in supporting Aussie farmers, raising over $1000

The children and families from Guardian Childcare & Education Pymble recently came together to support Australia’s drought stricken farmers, fundraising as part of the Buy a Bale initiative, which supports rural communities and farmers. 

The service collaborated with a number of local businesses during month long fundraising efforts, which culminated in over $1000 being raised for the cause. 

Inspiration was drawn in part, Centre Manager Kylie Davenport said, by a local cafe (Goodies) with which the centre has “a great relationship.” 

“They used to host an end of year fundraising BBQ that was always a huge hit with the local community,” she said. One of the centre’s parent volunteers offered to organise a BBQ which would be co-hosted by the cafe, with any money raised being directed to the Buy a Bale campaign. 

As well as collecting donations, the children handcrafted cards to sell on the day, and the Assistant Manager pulled together a raffle which had “an amazing response from local businesses who donated prizes, and so many families bought tickets” Ms Davenport said.

“Our families love that their children are getting to be part of a wider community and are learning about topics like sustainability, so they were more than happy to get on board with our fundraising events.”

After the event, the children wrote to thank the local business who donated prizes, and continued to explore why they were fundraising in the first place.

“Our Centre philosophy states that we encourage children to become global citizens,” Ms Davenport explained. “This includes making children aware of what is happening in the broader community in Australia, such as the drought and the bushfires.”

“Now that the drought is also affecting Sydney, our children not only can learn about how it is impacting the farmers, but also how we need to be more sustainable in the way we use water in our everyday lives.”

Over the past several months, educators at the service have incorporated discussions and investigations of the drought with the children, teaching them how it affects farmers and how animals are impacted.

“It can be hard for the children to relate to what is happening across Australia as it isn’t something that they can clearly see or touch,” Ms Davenport explained. 

“Some of our children have family members who live on farms and they’ve shared how they have no water for the animals and they have to get water and food brought in for them.”

“We’ve also spoken about the importance of turning the taps off and not wasting water. The children will come and tell Educators if they find a tap running and they can’t turn it off.”

The centre traditionally hosts a welcome BBQ at the end of January, which will now be used as a fundraising event, with the aim of raising enough money for each room to adopt an animal, such as a koala or rock wallaby, that has been affected by the bushfires.

To learn more about Guardian Pymble, please see here.