This year saw the reinvention of the Charities Club at Logan Park and a dramatically increased presence of charitable and community activities around the school.

One of our first activities of the year was to hold an in-school rummage sale, where students could purchase second-hand clothing and all proceeds were donated to Rape Crisis Dunedin. It was a fun event and we raised $278.00 to help eliminate sexual violence and advocate for women in our community.

After members of the Charities Club attended the World Vision Youth Conference, we felt compelled to help improve the lives of Syrian children living in refugee camps in Jordan. These children have been displaced from their homes as a result of a war they played no part in, and are being denied an education and by extension a decent future.

We were appalled to learn that at least 3 million Syrian children are no longer in school, and over 5,000 schools have been destroyed or occupied since 2011. Thus we embarked upon our mission to raise $2,500 in this year’s 40 Hour Famine - enough to build a classroom, complete with desks, chairs, and outdoor play equipment, for refugee children in Jordan.

More than 85 students signed up to take part in this year’s 40 Hour Famine, and the total raised was $5,801.00, enough to build TWO classrooms! Our fundraising was really driven by the commitment of Charities Club members to engage with the student body and organise publicity and events surrounding the famine. We held multiple bake sales, a mufti day and a ‘Famine Party’ event at LPHS for participants.

In Term 3, we held a ‘Hash Browns for Oxfam’ stall at Market Day where students could buy delicious hash browns to improve livelihoods in Papua New Guinea. We really appreciate the outstanding support of the school community, which enabled us to raise $151.80 over just ONE lunchtime! We used the funds raised to buy a goat and two chickens for people living in rural Papua New Guinea, and to support the vocational training of young people in Vanuatu and East Timor. We also donated $50.00 of our funds to Oxfam’s disaster relief fund, which will provide life-saving hygiene kits to prevent disease in Haiti, in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

We hope that the high level of awareness-raising and community involvement that we achieved this year through Charities Club will continue for many years to come.