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Story and photo courtesy of The Courier - Dec 2021

A charity is gifting vulnerable families and children in Ballarat an opportunity to have a fun time together during the school holidays at one of Ballarat's most loved attractions.

SJD Foundation is providing 100 Sovereign Hill family passes and hampers of treats to Cafs (Child and Family Services Ballarat) kinship care families.
CAFS kinship carer Wendy Ryan has been caring for her niece for two years and is looking forward to a trip to Sovereign Hill.
"The first eight months with hard but now it has become enjoyable, seeing her grow and change every day," she said.
"She is growing up into a beautiful young lady."
Ms Ryan said purchasing a ticket to Sovereign Hill was outside of their regular budget and she had not been to the attraction since she was in primary school herself.
"It is going to be an experience for both of us," she said.
Kinship carers are family members or close friends who care for children who can't live with their parents.
Living with a grandparent, an aunty or an uncle, a close family friend or someone with the same cultural ties is often the best choice for many children who can't stay at home.

Being cared for by someone they are familiar with helps a child feel safe and secure.
The SJD Foundation donation was made as part of Cafs Christmas Appeal.

Cafs chief executive Wendy Sturgess said the generosity of the Ballarat community meant Cafs could ensure each family received a gift this Christmas.
"The number of children and their families seeking support from Cafs this Christmas has grown to over 700," she said.
The Cafs Christmas Appeal is on track for one of its biggest years for donations from local businesses and members of the community.
Nicole Roberts from the SJD Foundation said the foundation had supported the Cafs Christmas Appeal for a number of years.
"For 2021 we see SJD's support as two fold," she said.
"We wanted to provide an opportunity for local families to spend some quality time together at Ballarat's most significant tourist attraction.
"As well as playing a part in the recovery of the visitor economy by encouraging visitors to come back through the doors here at Sovereign Hill."
SJD director Brayden Dorney said kinship families gave a lot and the foundation wanted to give back to them.
Sovereign Hill provided a significant discount to family passes for the hampers.
SJD raises funds through donations from the Ballarat community.
Signature Software and TBC Plus IT also made a $5,000 donation towards the Cafs 2021 Christmas Appeal.

The SJD Foundation “week of giving” didn’t stop at 100 fun food hampers for CAFS (Child and Family Services Ballarat).
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We also made up Christmas hampers and gift vouchers to give to the Students at the Young Parents Campus in Delacombe. We hope you all enjoy your Christmas treats and congratulations on a great year!

It’s been a big week at the SJD Foundation! Our favourite time of year...

A time to give a little bit of cheer to those in our community who deserve a helping hand.
This year the SJD Foundation is giving 100 Christmas hampers full of “fun foods” for Cafs Foster care and Kinship care households to enjoy.

A big thank you to all those that make this giving possible including our wonderful helpers.

• Shane from Woolworths
• Anthony for the use of the York St Church of Christ for packing.
• Our wonderful helpers for packing and delivering - Poppy & Catherine, Mary, Ned, Clemmie and Lauren.
• Ben, Richard and all the generous sponsors of the Golf City Driving Range SJD charity day - without these funds we couldn’t achieve what we do each year.
• And last but not least our board: Brayden, Gavin, Anthony, Jarrod, Lucy and Nicole who work so well together as a team to make all this happen.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Happy Easter to all! 

We were proud to be able to donate a huge amount of chocolate eggs and other treats for the CAFS Foster and Kinship Care children, which were gratefully accepted by Foster Care Practitioner Sasha Ward, pictured.
The children will enjoy their Easter even more now as they will be used in an Easter egg hunt!

Are you interested in becoming a Foster Carer? For more information, click here  https://www.cafs.org.au/become-a-foster-carer CAFS would love to hear from you!

Thank you to Dan O'Toole Signs for producing and installing the new signage at the Delacombe Community Centre. Yuille Park Young Parents Program are our tenants and they do an awesome job of assisting young mothers integration back into education. Check out their website at www.yuilleyoungparentscampus.com

We were proud once again this year to assist some local families with brand new back to school gear and stationery to make sure these kids are looking forward to heading back to school for 2021. Thanks to Eureka Mums for organising this drop to the families who needed it through their network.  

Board Members and Volunteers worked hard last week to put together 70 Santa Sacks full of food and gift items for families associated with Child and Family Services Ballarat (CAFS).

The sacks full of goodies from local businesses Shepp Cannery Surplus and Woolworths will be a welcome addition to the Christmas celebrations at the range of families who are in the most need of assistance this Christmas.

These sacks were delivered today to CAFS in time for them to distribute to the needy families.
Pictured here are Nicole, Gavin & Brayden from the SJD Foundation Ballarat Inc Board delivering the sacks.
Well done to all and to our local business partners once again!

Today we donated 10 very much needed puffer coats to the Soup Bus to distribute to their clients.
​Thank you to Nicole from our board of management for organising this and of course to the Soup Bus for their tireless work in the area of homelessness in Ballarat.