Ladysmith Public School Year 6 students Beau Carlisle, Jamie Muller, Jordan Mitchell, Evie Reid and Brianna Lehman presented Country Hope’s Simon Barton with a cheque for $471.25. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Election day can be a stressful time for some and an inconvenience to others, but with the help of Year 6 students from Ladysmith Public School, some voters were provided with a sweet surprise while casting their vote.
Gracing voters with a range of baked treats including biscuits, brownies and cupcakes, Ladysmith’s oldest students provided the goods while raising money for a charity close to their hearts – Country Hope.
“Every year we do fundraising for different charities and those sorts of things,” school chaplain Jeremy Polkinghorne said.
“Earlier this term I had sat down with the sixes and we went through things, we listed over 30-something different charities that we could fundraise for.
“These guys (Year 6 students) were quite passionate about supporting farmers and people in regional areas. Ladysmith Primary is attended by a lot of children from farming areas, so Country Hope really spoke to them.
“They made a batch of cookies, baked cakes and a few other treats to sell at the school on election day.”
The Year 6 students were blown away by the support of the Ladysmith community on election day with the small class of students raising over $450.
“We started our fundraising by holding a footy colours day; everyone at the school would dress up in their favourite team’s colours and bring a gold coin donation,” sports captain Evie Reid said.
“We held our own store at the school so people who were voting could come over and buy something that we had cooked.
Ladysmith Public School’s Year 6 students helped set up ballot collection boxes for the NSW state election. Photo: Ladysmith Public School.
“The most popular thing was definitely our cupcakes; we sold all but two of them on the day.
“This was our first fundraiser of the year. We have plans of doing more throughout the year. We have a couple of ideas for farming related charities and those affected by drought.”
Events coordinator of Country Hope’s Wagga Wagga office Simone Barton visited Ladysmith on 6 April, where Year 6 students presented him with a cheque.
“We love seeing students raise money, particularly from rural schools like the one out here in Ladysmith,” Mr Barton said.
“All of our services and our financial support are for country families just like everybody here at Ladysmith. Some of the biggest things we do to help people is to pay for their simple things like their groceries and food. We help them pay for their power bills and those sorts of things.
“One of the biggest impacts of families is that they need to travel usually to Sydney or Melbourne – who knows where, that is, is a long way away. So this sort of money will directly help those families make sure they can get the treatment they need and really support those payments so they can stay together.
“All of us at Country Hope would like to say the biggest thank you to everyone at Ladysmith Public School but especially Year Six students for running the fundraiser, thank you so much.”
To learn more about Country Hope click here.
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