2014 School Magazine

SAVE THE CHILDREN CLUB MARGOT BLIGH (12R)

We held a stall on Open Day, which offered information on our activities and the chance to play quoits, and were delighted by the School community’s interest in the Club. This was also a great way for members to work together to display the results of their efforts during the year so far. After a meeting with our Brisbane Save the Children contact, the Club decided we wanted to organise a stationery drive. Students were asked to bring in stationery items to be donated to disadvantaged Australian primary school children. We liked this initiative as an alternative approach to simply fundraising and hope it helps students think more deeply about the meaning behind our work. ■

Save the Children is the world’s foremost independent charity for children. Through their projects focused on education, emergency response, health and nutrition, HIV/AIDS, as well as protection from neglect, exploitation, abuse and violence, Save the Children works to ensure all children can get the healthy start to life they deserve. Our BGGS Save the Children Club works with the Australian Save the Children Branch to raise funds for local or current campaigns. We are a small, friendly group of girls from all years. In Term I we continued our ‘Stand-down Survival Kits’ initiative from 2013. Members made small packages of items such as pens, tea bags and meditation instructions (and lots of chocolate of course) to provide students relief from the stress of their studies. We were excited by the School’s enthusiastic reception of them, and even struggled to meet demand. All proceeds go towards improving the health and education of Australian school children.

WORLD VISION GRACE MITCHELL (9G) AND MIA THURECHT (9G) Service is a big part of Girls Grammar life from day one. All House groups in Years 8 and 9 organise a fundraiser to raise money for a World Vision sponsor child. Year 9 sponsors fourteen-year-old Njeri Mercy Muigai who lives in Kenya and now has the opportunity for a proper education thanks to our fundraising. Year 8 supports eight-year-old Gainshy Madaudi, and because he is very young, the money will make a real difference in his development. While bakestalls continue to be a popular and successful fundraiser for many groups, this year has also seen some more original ideas, including 9 Mackay’s Ekka stall, which sold show bags and strawberry and cream ice-creams. There was also a ‘Guess how many lollies in the jar’ competition by 8 Griffith. While the first fifty dollars raised by each class goes to support their sponsor child, any additional funds raised are put towards the World Vision gifts programme which allows us to choose a gift that will really make a difference to a family under World Vision’s care. These gifts range from

small things like school supplies or gardening tools through to livestock or even a well to supply clean water for a whole community. Thanks to the help and advice of our Service Coordinators and all our House group teachers, we have had the opportunity to raise money and support others from less fortunate countries. ■

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