A COLOURFUL & HEALTHY ADDITION TO HOSPITAL KITCHENS

April 1, 2021By

Having a beautiful dish of delicious fresh fruit is something most of us could often take for granted, however for families who spend days, weeks and even months in hospital, having fresh fruit available to select from is a luxury.

It’s usually impractical and almost impossible for parents to shop for fresh, healthy food before and during their child’s admission and if they have a day full of appointments and have forgotten to pack a snack for them and their child, it involves a costly trip to the hospital cafe. 

With thanks to LaManna & Sons South Yarra, Koala Kids has begun providing a weekly delivery of fresh, seasonal fruit to the Children’s Cancer Centre at Monash Children’s Hospital and the ONTrac Adolescent and Young Adult Service at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. We are loving being able to add fresh fruit to the range of grocery items we already provide hospitals and is something we hope to expand to other hospitals in the future. 

Feedback thus far has been wonderful with lots of comments on how bright and fresh the fruit is and its fabulous quality. As always, this program wouldn’t be possible without the support of a committed team of volunteers working behind the scenes every week – picking up the fruit from LaManna & Sons, dividing it up at the office and then delivering it to Monash and Peter Mac.

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Family Zoom Workshops

April 1, 2021By

From exploding volcanoes, juggling and Pilates to decorating Easter bonnets and baskets and a plethora of chocolate, Koala Kids Zoom workshops had it all over the past couple of months!

Bonnie from FizzKidz showed kids how to construct their own volcanoes before using science to explode them. Then the kids popped on their juggling hats and the Carnival for Kids team showed them how to not only make their own juggling balls but become a juggling master at the same time!

Parents and carers didn’t miss out on the fun either as Alannah Miller, Koala Kids volunteer and director of pilates at 2Good Physiotherapy hosted a Zoom pilates class one Saturday morning.  We are looking forward to Alannah and other Pilates instructors providing regular Pilates sessions in future.  

Leading up to Easter kids created beautiful Easter bonnets and baskets at the Koala Kids craft workshop and at our Easter cooking workshop made and devoured delicious chocolate treats!

Koala Kids commenced Zoom workshops in mid-2020 as a response to the pandemic and our volunteers being unable to attend hospitals for in-hospital activities. The research that was conducted by independent  IMO analytics late last year with around 100 families revealed  families really enjoy our Zoom workshops and hoped they would continue after COVID. The virtual workshops are proving particularly beneficial for children and families in regional areas who don’t always come to Melbourne for treatment.  Without our activities these families miss the fun Koala Kids activities and the opportunity to connect with other families. As we slowly gravitate towards returning to hospital volunteering, we are also planning to continue Zoom workshops and run the two programs simultaneously.

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Schools Program – April 2021

April 1, 2021By

During Term 1, we’ve had the pleasure of Zach and Eden from Bialik College join us every Friday afternoon as part of the ETGAR Program. Etgar means “challenge” in hebrew and during each term in year eight and nine students are able to choose from either a variety of activities that help them develop their skills, interests and competencies in new and untested areas or can nominate to volunteer with or fundraise for a local not-for-profit organisation. 

Zach and Eden provided a valuable contribution to Koala Kids and we’ve really enjoyed witnessing their passion and enthusiasm grow as they learned learn more about Koala Kids. Both students commented that their favourite task was packing craft kits for Monash Children’s Hospital enjoying seeing the range of items that went into the packs. 

We’re looking forward to growing momentum once again with our schools program this year after it came to a standstill during 2020. Within the next few months we’ll be speaking at assemblies, hosting workshops and welcoming students from Genazzano FCJ College, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School and Wesley College.

 

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Suncorp Brighter Futures Partnership

April 1, 2021By

Koala Kids is delighted to announce that we have been chosen as Suncorp Group’s local Victorian charity partner in the Brighter Futures program for the second consecutive year.

In addition to a large cash donation, we’ve enjoyed working with the Suncorp team on various fundraising initiatives and are hoping this year to be able to welcome members of their team to volunteer with us on a range of programs. 

In addition to assisting with deliveries of meal boxes to families’ homes all over Melbourne during the lockdowns, the cyber safety team is presently conducting a review of our business.

Brighter Futures is Suncorp Group’s employee giving program that encourages employees to donate, fundraise and volunteer for causes that are important to them. Koala Kids was chosen after Suncorp Group conducted a survey which found that their Victorian employees wanted to support an organisation that helped children and families.

 

 

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