Over 10,000 children live under the poverty line on the Central Coast. A statistic that breaks our hearts. And, that’s not the only stat that saddens us: Mission Australia suggests that 30 per cent (that’s 1 in 3 people) of Australians are only six paychecks away from homelessness. With the outrageous (yes, we’re looking at you lettuces and petrol!) cost of living at the moment the number of kids living in poverty, sadly, will only rise.
Meet the Central Coast charity that has made it their mission to change this story. The angels at We Care Connect want to break the barrier of childhood poverty. From humble beginnings with just a small group of volunteers in 2016, We Care Connect was founded by the beautiful soul Derryck Klarkowski whose belief is that no child should be disadvantaged because of poverty. So far they have managed to help over 12,000 vulnerable kids from the generosity of over 310,000+ donations from the local community.
Central Coast Charity We Care Connect
Proud to be winners of the Central Coast Volunteer Team of the Year Award in 2018 We Care Connect is a rapidly growing volunteer-based registered children’s charity but there is always more work to do, especially during winter months.
Caseworkers are frequently faced with dire situations like this: “XX is a young first-time mum who has recently become a single parent. The house that they are in gets very cold, so anything for winter that can be used for bub would be amazing.”
The charity accepts donations of cash and pre-loved and new children’s items. With their network of over 180 community case workers and volunteers preparing support packages to distribute to families in need.
Following a simple quality standard of: “Would I be delighted to receive this for my child?” Items that can be donated include clothes, nappies, bed linen, bassinets, cots, prams, car seats, baby baths, toys, books, craft packs, maternity items and toiletries.
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How you can help?
1. Volunteer at the local Wyong based We Care Connect HQ and help with:
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- Sorting all the wonderful community donations received.
- Preparing the individual support packs for local families in need.
- Various other ad-hoc tasks.
Note: you will not work directly with recipients, We Care Connect works with community and case workers who distribute the care packages.
2. Donate money
$42 is the average amount it costs We Care Connect to provide a bundle of practical items like clothing, nappies, linen, formula and other essentials to each disadvantaged child.
3. Donate items as below:
We Care Connect welcomes the following items:
1. Children’s clothes of all sizes
2. Maternity items eg. Breast pumps, breast pads, sanitary items
3. Baby bottles/sterilizers
5. Strollers, prams
6. Cots, portable cots, bassinets
7. Nappies, wipes
9. Bedding for bassinets, blankets
10. Car seats, boosters, baby capsules (all less than 8 yrs old)
11. High chairs
12. Toiletries, hair, skin and oral care
13. Change tables
14. Safety gates
15. Baby baths
Unfortunately, the following CANNOT be accepted:
1. Torn, stained, frayed, worn-out clothing.
2. Items that do not meet current Australian standards
3. Alphabet foam mats
4. Baby-swings, walkers and ride-ons
5. Bath seats or stands
6. Bed rails
7. Bikes, scooters and helmets
8. Furniture
9. Incomplete items
10. Jolly jumpers and bumbo seats
11. Nappy wrapper bins and cartridges
12. Nursery décor and cot bumpers
13. Single bed mattresses
14. Opened hygiene products
15. Plastic playpens
16. Tents and cubbies
Drop off points:
Kincumber Neighbourhood Centre
Lake Munmorah Northern Lake Neighbourhood Centre
Gosford A1 Autoparts
Wyoming Community Centre
Tuggerah Emma Mc Bride
Woy Woy Leisl Tesch
Wyong David Harris
Erina Tyrepower
Visit We Care Connect’s website to find out more about how you can help.
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Congratulation!