The Aussie kids who are making a big difference

In November, the biggest typhoon ever to make landfall, Super Typhoon Haiyan, hit the Philippines leaving devastation in its path. Thousands of lives were lost, hundreds remain missing and millions were left homeless.

Almost 6,000 kilometres away at Ryde Secondary College, nestled in Sydney`s north, a Year 10 International Studies class sprang into action.

“We wanted to find a way to show our compassion and to help as best as we could,” says Jasmine, a 16-year-old student from the class. “We came up with many great ideas for our school fundraising by brainstorming through a series of lunch times spent with the class and our teacher, Mr McCartan.”

The class decided to organise lots of fun activities to raise money over a period of two weeks at their school.

“It started off with just a small portion of students, but the more the cause was displayed to our peers the more people began to take interest and get involved, until the entire student body took part in organising and running the events!” says Stephanie, 16.

Yummy cakes and delicious food from all around the world were sold and enjoyed, nails were painted and hair was sprayed all sorts of crazy colours, in the name of helping children and their families in the Philippines who have lost everything.

The fundraiser was a big success with the school raising a huge $3,570 towards ChildFund`s Typhoon Haiyan emergency response! The students don`t plan to stop there, with exciting new ideas already in the works for their next fundraiser.

“I believe that doing little things, such as fundraising for children in a country we cannot reach out to physically, does shift the atmosphere of love and understanding,” says Jasmine. “It makes a difference not only in their world, but in our small world too.”

ChildFund Australia would like to say a very special thank you to all the students and teachers at Ryde Secondary College for their amazing support of children and communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

Eight months after Typhoon Haiyan, ChildFund continues to help children and their families recover. You can read more about our emergency work in the Philippines here.