Between the 25th of February and 2nd of March 2022, a series of severe rain and flooding impacted areas of South East Queensland to the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, the area was severely impacted, with the Tweed, Brunswick and Richmond / Wilsons River catchments experiencing severe flooding, Over 30,000 homes were flooded in this area.
Soroptimist International of the Gold Coast, lead a post recovery flood appeal to the area, this was coordinated by member Dorothy Elliott. Assistance started in March 2022 and continued until August 2022, the Gold Coast club utilised their own funds, as well as donations from other Soroptimist Clubs and clubs in the South Queensland Region, to further assist the club in their response and support to the flood affected communities, the club also sought assistance from the SISEAP Federation disaster appeal. The following is a report of the assistance provided by members of the club. This work displays the importance of Soroptimists in their capacity to be second level responders, which is both rewarding and stressful, as they identify need and efficiently respond. The following report is provided by Dorothy Elliott the SI Gold Coast Disaster coordinator.
- 13 schools, 3 community groups, 1250 students benefitted from our donations.
- Approximately $10,000 was donated in cash plus books, Target 10 bags, classroom resources, games, toys, sporting equipment and plants to the combined value of thousands of dollars.
Dorothy spent approximately 700 hours on the project from March to November.
MURWILLUMBAH FLOOD COLLECTION CENTRE - $151.16 in March for desperately needed bottles of liquid laundry detergent and mops
MURWILLUMBAH PUBLIC SCHOOL - $1300 March 17 – used for food vouchers for families losing everything in the floods. Vouchers were for local IGA, butcher shops, a fruit and veggie barn and shoe shops; also, for canteen lunch order vouchers for students without access to lunches from home.
MURWILLUMBAH EAST PUBLIC SCHOOL - $250 on March 23 used for school uniforms and winter jackets; $400 on May 25 to replace dolls, prams and cars for K – 2 Infants classrooms as well as warm jumpers, $500 on June 27 for lava lamps and headphones for music for the well-being and relaxation hub addressing mental health issues.
TUMBULGUM PUBLIC SCHOOL - $275 April 5 - used for uniforms and stationery items including art supplies: pens, pencils, paint brushes
CONDONG PUBLIC SCHOOL - $275 on April 21 – used to replace musical instruments and classroom resources eg puzzles, magnifying glasses and a microscope. Two Soroptimist members from Beenleigh and one from Gold Coast personally delivered 90 of Beenleigh’s Target Ten School Packs on May 2, 2022, boxes of Group Readers, library books and dictionaries donated through SI Bayside, as well as a box of new puzzles and board games supplied by local charity You Have A Friend.
After working through the recovery process for several months the staff and students at Condong School decided to create a Memorial Mosaic Mural by the students leaving school this year. It is to commemorate their final year at their school and will be displayed back at the school which will not be repaired for another year or so. They received our donation of $500 on October 16.
CRABBES CREEK PUBLIC SCHOOL – $250 on May 13 for playground resources and sports equipment including balls, tennis racquets, hula hoops, skipping ropes and cricket bats. On May 10 we delivered 30 Target Ten School Packs, several bags of Group Readers and some of Helen Heineke’s boardgames.
MULLUMBIMBY PUBLIC SCHOOL - $275 May 13 for initial donation and $500 on September 6 for setting up passive play spaces and sensory gardens. In the final roundup of the Flood Appeal a further $350 was received towards the repair and replacement of their fixed playground equipment.
THE SMALL SCHOOL, Murwillumbah – received two bags of Teacher Resources and 12 copies of ‘My first Oxford Dictionary’.
MAIN ARM UPPER PUBLIC SCHOOL – $250 on May 13 for initial donation, $500 on June 27 for Veggie Garden and Sandpit, $800 on August 9 for a Sandpit Cover and Shade Sail. On August 2 we delivered 100 Target Ten School Packs to a very welcoming staff and school children. I was able to explain where the School Packs came from and each child was presented with one by their classroom teachers. We also offered them a box of group Readers, a set of Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit series, boardgames, 120 sets of Spelling Cards, Maths and Science educational puzzles, and a box of jigsaw puzzles. These were accepted with great excitement and gratitude.
The board games and puzzles were personally donated by Catherine Evans and members of SI Canberra and collected and delivered to my door by our very own Bev Ludke. Catherine is also an ex-member of SIGC.
SUPPORT FOR SENIOR FLOOD VICTIM in Murwillumbah - $250 on June 28 to provide gravel for entrance paths to provide access to the house.
POSSUMS COMMUNITY PRESCHOOL - $600 on July 27 for Art easels and a light box for science experiments. They also received board games, wooden and plastic puzzles and story books.
BURRINGBAR PUBLIC SCHOOL – $500 on August 17 for the Garden Club to design and create an Indigenous Garden with rainforest and bush tucker plants. In the final roundup of the Flood Appeal $350 was received towards the repair and replacement of their fixed playground equipment.
DUNGAY PUBLIC SCHOOL - $500 on August 24 to replace two native beehives and rainforest plants in the well-being garden. We visited the school today where each student was presented with a Target Ten School Pack supplied by Vicki Bailey of SI Beenleigh, coloured pens and pencils, colouring and story books for K – 2 donated by a friend of SI Gold Coast and Infants resources and 30 coloured banners from Sue Myers of SI Bayside. We had an extensive walk through the playground and were able to understand their needs regarding the beehives and rainforest plants for their seriously damaged well-being garden. Replacing the two lost beehives cost $200, leaving only $300 for replacing dozens of plants lost in the flood. I offered them another $275 towards the purchase of plants. They were overjoyed and can now see their way clear to complete their well-being garden.
UKI PUBLIC SCHOOL – no monetary donation was requested but many teaching resources were welcomed such as 30 Painting Aprons, Group Readers, 30 Big Books, Dictionaries, Atlases and Thesaurus, a David Attenborough Wildlife Fact File and a box of classroom and library books as well as 12 art and craft books, a 220p Children’s Dictionary and a 110p Primary Australian History Book.
TWEED SHORES VAN PARK – a large quantity of quality bedding donated by past SIGC member Helen Heineke.
STOKERS SIDING PUBLIC SCHOOL – This is a small school south of Murwillumbah and suffered severely from the floods. Support for them seems to have been overlooked by the conversation I had with the School Principal today. Their needs are great but are thrilled with a donation of $500 on September 8 which will go a long way to provide edging for their very damaged sandpit and also a sandpit cover. This will give the children a greater variety in their limited play area. Another urgent need is sports equipment which could be a consideration for us to provide in the near future. A further $100 was donated on September 16 as a direct donation to the school by an ex-member of SIGC in honour of her husband’s historical link to the district and school.
In October Stokers Siding School received a direct donation of $500 from SI Devonport which is going toward the repairs necessary for their severely damaged fixed playground equipment. In the final roundup of the Flood Appeal in November a further donation of $350 was received towards the fundraising for the repair and replacement of playground equipment.
The Project is almost complete. Early in the Appeal a member of SI Brighton and Southern Districts launched her own appeal to St Leonard’s College in Victoria for donations of library books and sports equipment. This was so successful that 30 boxes of books were collected as well as sports equipment. It is only now that three of our schools, desperate for library books and sports equipment, are able to receive these goods. We are expecting them at the end of November or early December.
All donations, either in money or kind, have been overwhelmingly and gratefully received and everyone is looking forward to a brighter future – with thanks to all the donors who responded to our SIGC Flood Appeal.
- 13 schools, 3 community groups, 1250 students benefitted from our donations.
- Approximately $10,000 was donated in cash plus books, Target 10 bags, classroom resources, games, toys, sporting equipment and plants to the combined value of thousands of dollars.
Dorothy spent approximately 700 hours on the project from March to November.
