Kindness for Kids in Care Nonprofit organization Christmas Toy Appeal

Hello, my name's Prue Arunavich and I'm the Chair for Kindness for Kids in Care. And the reason I got involved with Kindness for Kids in Care is because we had a fantastic lady running the toy drive who unfortunately passed away. It then became, we didn't have much time because she passed away towards the end of the year and we only had literally a month to get a toy drive together for over 750 children. So I quickly ran around the community and grabbed helpers and grabbed supporters and grabbed whatever money I could get and we threw the first toy drive together. It became very, very apparent in that time that there was a lot more holes than just a toy drive within the needs of child services and our community of children. So we also then started an initiative for a suitcase drive. So the suitcase drive is for kids that come into care from, they come at all hours of the night and they literally come with a garbage bag full of things. So we were like, we don't want kids to feel like garbage so let's get them a suitcase. So as soon as that stuff gets there, their stuff goes in and that suitcase stays with that child, it's theirs. So they quite often move a few times when they first come into care so it means that that's something that's a constant for them, their suitcase and their things are in there, their special things. We then also started a hope chest drive. Now that is to give kids that are leaving the foster care system of being with a mum and dad essentially to go into independent living so that they've got the things that we would give our children when they move out of home. So tea towels, pots and pans, a blanket, we even put in there the Dr Seuss book called The Places You Will Go. Just to inspire them that people do care about them and that they will, you know, they are going places and just because they might have had a bit of a rough start, it's not a reason for them to not be able to succeed. So if we're all about breaking the cycle for kindness for kids in care, the more things that we can do to let those kids know that this community does care, the better. So wherever we see gaps, we fill them. Thank you, that's wonderful. And what about your own family? I have three biological daughters that help with the toy drive and help with all about the initiatives that I'm involved with. I also have two foster kids myself, so they are both adults now, one of which has children. So I know first hand the differences that you can make to children. Foster care is always looking for new foster carers. They've got children of all ages and all levels of need. So if anybody is interested, please step up. You don't have to commit, you can just go in and ask a lot of questions and then go from there. But we need good people to step up in our community.