Young & Free - making positive change in Indigenous children's lives

Here are a couple of people doing practical things to assist disadvantaged indigenous children.  At the moment Young and Free are collecting items that many of us take as a given - clothes, toiletries, nappies, shoes, sporting equipment, books, stationery, school bags, basic household items....use your creativity.  You could even make up a pack suitable for a child of a particular age - get together with some friends, pool resources and put some together.

casual day: May donations

My office decided to direct funds from this month's casual days to the Motor Neurone Disease Association.  MND is a degenerative desease of the nerve cells which control the muscles we use to function - breath, speak, move.  MND progresses quickly and is a death sentence, with survival after diagnosis averaging less than 3 years.  The MNDASA has various ways that it provides support to sufferers and carers.  You may also consider donation to research in this are via the MND Research Institute of Australia.

Fair Trade

I remember being struck by whole towns and cities in the UK and Europe declaring themselves as Fair Trade, with plenty of publicity. I don't think it was that long ago when Fair Trade was unpublicised and more expensive in Australia. Is that still the case? Are there any cities or towns in Australia that have taken a public Fair Trade stance?

Enfield Community Food Centre

I wanted to pick up my 2011/2012 Entertainment Book this week and it reminded me that I could share the work of the Enfield Community Food Centre, where I got my Entertainment Book this year. They provide low cost groceries for people who struggle to afford them. The Centre needs financial support and a lot of the Centre's work is done by volunteers. The ECFC recently relocated from Enfield to Gepps Cross which has cost them a lot. I visited the centre just before they moved, and it's an amazing place, run by extraordinary people for extraordinary people.