The Raymond Terrace Rotary 'Back to School' program started a couple of years ago as a means of providing schoolbags and support for struggling Port Stephens families.
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Organised in conjunction with Raymond Terrace LJ Hooker, last year a total of 120 brand new backpacks were handed out to school children. This year the number of donations has more than doubled to 250.
Schools to benefit from the expanded project in 2021 include Irrawang High, Irrawang Primary, Grahamstown Primary, Raymond Terrace Primary, Hunter River High, St Brigid's Catholic, Seaham Primary and Medowie Primary. Extra backpacks were also distributed to the Raymond Terrace Community Centre and Kate Washington's office in Port Stephens Street.
Organiser Tracy Jonovski, a real estate agent with Raymond Terrace LJ Hooker who is also president of Raymond Terrace Rotary, said that the scheme was a combined community event which had at its heart supporting families that were struggling financially at this time of the year.
"Rotary funds the project to the tune of $2000 and this year we managed to add stationery such as pencils, pencil cases, books, crayons, lunchboxes and water bottles," she said.
"It is a fantastic project showcasing the the generosity of the local community and ensuring that our school children have access to brand new schoolbags and stationery for the start of the new school year."
In fact, the extra funding needed to purchase some of the items came from the ingenuity of Ms Jonovski and colleague Robyn Smith.
"These women spent hours volunteering their time to make COVID-safe masks which they sold to the public from our office. The money was used to purchase the stationery," said LJ Hooker director Melissa Parkinson.
"We envisage that the 'Back to School' program will become an annual event."
Irrawang High School principal Paul Baxter, speaking on behalf the school recipients, said that the organisers deserved to be congratulated for initiating such a worthwhile program in the area.
"I would like say a huge thank you to the Rotary Club of Raymond Terrace and Ms Jonovski, who managed to distribute the many fully stocked school bags to schools throughout the area. This is a mammoth task and we sincerely appreciate the thought and effort gone into this worthwhile project," Mr Baxter said.
Ms Jonovski says the project began on a small scale but had grown with the financial contribution from Rotary, LJ Hooker and donations from the public.
The backpacks are distributed to students who are nominated by school staff members.