Tay MacNabb was a seasoned traveller when he embarked on a trip to Indonesia in early 2019. He had been to many developing countries before but he was unprepared for how much the trip to the island of Java would affect him.
He wasn’t going for just a holiday, or for work; he was going to meet eight-year-old Yumna, whom he had been sponsoring through ChildFund for almost four years.
“The whole experience was more rewarding than I had ever imagined,” he says.
Why Tay wanted to visit his sponsored child
After years of exchanging sponsor letters, Tay wanted Yumna and her family to be able to put a face to a name.
“I really wanted for Yumna and her parents to know that even though her sponsor was a great distance away living in another country, that her sponsor actually genuinely cared for them and their community to make the effort and take the time out to visit,” he says.
“I didn’t want to be this faceless person who merely corresponded by letters but rather someone who took an active and sincere interest in the progression and development of Yumna, which I believe can only be appreciated through a sponsor child visit.”
Educators always need fun and engaging activities for preschool, childcare and day care centres.
Charity fundraising events create learning opportunities for children of all ages, their parents and the wider community. They’re also great ways for educators to get the class involved with the community, while complying with the outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).
For centres that haven’t yet hosted a charity fundraiser, or aren’t sure what’s required for a great event, we’ve listed our top five preschool fundraising events to help you get started. So, let’s get fundraising.
1. Read-a-thon
Kids love stories! Story-time is an exciting part of the day for many children, hearing about faraway places, animals and other fun-filled tales. While the little one’s might not yet be able to read, helping them learn is a cause family and friends will be excited to be a part of.
For a preschool read-a-thon you’ll need to take a different approach. Instead of the children reading themselves, have parents and teachers read to the preschoolers.
What you will need: Create a scorecard for students and parents to log their reading time and the number of books each child has read.
How to collect donations: Have the children ask for sponsorships from family members and friends for each book read to them within a given time frame. We recommend two weeks.
Fundraising Tip: Have the children tell the class about their favourite story at your next news day as part of the read-a-thon.
