BacLinks help kinder polish up for kids
04 May 2009
Volunteers sanded and lacquered children’s furniture and toys in January, allowing a new kindergarten program in one of Geelong’s most disadvantaged areas to start as planned.
Co-ordinated through Karingal BacLinks, the volunteer effort saw Geelong region health insurer GMHBA team with members of the Geelong East Men’s Shed, Glastonbury Child and Family Services and the City of Greater Geelong to make sure the kindergarten program opened for the first term of the 2009 school year.
Located at the Whittington Early Learning and Family Centre, the new kindergarten program ensures children from disadvantaged families in Geelong’s eastern suburbs have access to quality pre-school education.
The centre already runs family support groups and playgroups.
BacLinks Manager Sheree Holdsworth said research showed children benefited enormously from attending kindergarten and every child had the right to a pre-school education.
In order for the Whittington Early Learning and Family Centre kindergarten program to start, all wooden surfaces, toys and play equipment had to be sanded and lacquered, she said. Shelves, benches, chairs and toy blocks also had to be treated.
The kindergarten project showed businesses, organisations and members of the public could help out in the community without donating large sums of money, Ms Holdsworth said. Donations of time, skill, expertise and materials were invaluable to community projects such as the Whittington kinder, she said.
“There are so many ways businesses can contribute to their local community from workplace volunteering and in-kind support to the sharing of resources and collection of goods,’’ she said. “Everyone can provide something of worth to assist those in need to our community. The possibilities are endless.”