We Care Connect

In the Hunter and Central Coast regions, 30,000 children live below the poverty line. Children’s charity We Care Connect aims to reduce the day-to-day impact of childhood disadvantage, often caused by factors such as financial hardship, extreme poverty, domestic violence and chronic illness. Their volunteer team focuses on improving life outcomes and self-esteem for at-risk and marginalised youth, many of whom experience severe trauma.

We Care Connect provides children’s clothing, cots, prams, car seats and nursery items – all generously donated by the community – to provide dignity to families and comfort that there is a community that cares for them.

Most recently, Coastie kids have pitched in to help prepare toy packages in the lead up to Christmas. The charity held monthly sorting sessions, with the help of children and teenagers who sorted through dozens of boxes of donated toys so they can be bundled into gifts and given to children who are living in poverty.

We Care Connect Secretary Jackie Klarkowski said it was wonderful to see young people from the community giving up their Sunday morning for a good cause.

“We hold a Sunday sorting session once a month, where adults who are busy during the week volunteer their time to help, but this was the first time children had come along, and they were fantastic,” she said.

“They were the perfect people for the job as they knew exactly what all the toys were, and which age group would like which toys”.

December and January are some of the biggest and busiest months for the charity as they run their Christmas and Back2School programs to provide brand new Christmas presents and school essentials to children across the Central Coast.

They want vulnerable children to wake up on Christmas day with a smile on their faces, then start the school year happy, confident and with the resources they need. Each child receives a mix of bigger gifts, crafts, books and stocking fillers, which are often the only gifts the children receive.

We Care Connect anticipates they will be asked to support over 2,000 children with Christmas gifts (12-13,000 gifts in total!), and 700 children for Back2School. ‘

Head to www.wecareconnect.org.au for more info on how to get involved.

Read the full story in our Summer Edition of Hunter & Coastal Lifestyle Magazine or subscribe here.