I am very lucky to spend most Friday mornings with my little girl before she starts school next year. We do lots of fun things together and I am so glad to have a job that gives me the flexibility to spend time with her – it is one of the great luxuries of my busy life!
We often go to a playgroup run by a lovely group of local Grandmothers who bake beautiful cakes every week for us parents. It’s a nice break from the everyday schedule, and it’s run by an inspiring group of women with a combined life experience that stretches from here to the moon and back.
My daughter loves it but every so often we like to try something different, just for a change of scene – last Friday was one of those times….
And so it was we found ourselves pitching in at a volunteer group working with the charity Mummies Paying it Forward.
This is an amazing group of volunteers who help other charities in a simple but very novel way. Rather than make assumptions, they actually reach out to different charities to see what they really need.
Running collection drives on Facebook to gather specific items, they’ve grown to more than 12,000 members just in Sydney over the last year.
Local business – Storage King – supports them by providing storage & working space and another partner – Bakers Delight – provide treats for the volunteers every week so no-one goes hungry.
Collections run right across the city, with businesses and individuals all contributing. All the collections are then sent through to a sorting hub, just like the one we attended to help out last week.
It was a great experience, being with these ladies who have such a passion for helping others. We spent the morning sorting out toiletries for women in refuges, had a great laugh, got lots of work done. My little girl went home so proud of herself and told anyone who would listen;
“We were helping people who don’t have much”
She loved sorting out all the shampoos, nail polishes, body washes and all sorts of other items.
I’m looking forward to sharing many more of these sessions together with my daughter and watching her have such fun helping others. But mostly I loved that she was inspired by those strong, empowered women, helping make a difference and paying it forward, one Mummy at a time.
And so was I.
Celebrating International Womens Day 2016.
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YVONNE KELLY – 8th MARCH 2016
