Hello again...as many of you may remember Last year I was involved in a Abused & at Risk Children's camp held in Helensburgh in April 2007, the camp, Southern Cross Kids Camp had 35 sadly neglected, often abused and at risk children. My job was to help the children's Buddies create memory books that focused on their holiday week. As I explained last year (See below) these books are incredible memory anchors for these sad little children, most count down the days until the next years camp, for many of these children the photos we take and scrap at camp are sometimes their only childhood pictures.
Last year with the incredible generosity of many scrappers we were able to create the best ever memory books, the kids were delighted....See their response here....It was an enormous task and a huge ask of the 30 odd buddies who were definitely out of their comfort zone when confronted with a table full of scrapbooking supplies, we were all exhausted, but thrilled with the results and kids reactions ........this year our task is even greater, with the demands of so many abused children, the co-ordinators have decided to run two camps this year, back to back, with 40 odd children at each weeks camp...thats an amazing 80 books with 20 pages each..Sooo.. I hoped that perhaps as the amazingly compassionate and caring community that Scrappers have formed, we could all contribute to these needy little children by scrapping at home or getting together at one or two Friday Crops and creating the simplest, most basic 6" x 6" (Photo size is 5" x 3.5") background LO's for the buddies to add the kids pictures too, embellish and present to their children at the end of the week. The buddies have very limited time to spend on their books as they are with the children 24/7....being such an amazingly important emotional anchor, your assistance would help to ensure each and every child has a memory book worthy of their memories.
If you can see it in your heart to help individually or organize your scrapping friends to assist, we would all be incredibly grateful and you would be an integral part in the Miracle of Southern Cross Kids Camp......you really would make a difference. Simply post a comment here if your keen for more info or
email me direct. Honestly these pages NEED to be simple and will take a competent scrapper no more than an hour or two to create 10 odd. I am praying for a miracle here, if I can get a reasonable number of scrappers to commit to this project and do their bit we will relieve the burden on the buddies and ensure the children are again rewarded with amazing memory books.......
With much gratefulness and huge hugs
Jules
(See Below excerpt from blog last year)
Hi all,
I have been invited to participate in a camp, called Southern Cross Kids Camp that runs for 5 days in late April. My hubbys niece and her husband, Dave and Tammy Tolman are the directors of SCK Wollongong. Thes amps are for abused, at risk and neglected children. They aim to give these wee mites some respite once a year, a time to make them feel like they are important, worthwhile and cared for. These kids count down the days to the next camp and the belief is that if the children experience a solid period of support then those happy carefree days will be anchored in their mind and as they grow up their self-esteem and belief in humanity will not be lost. They spend their entire week one on one with the same buddy, which builds trust and allows them to experience a dependable source of support.
Basicly my job will be to help the buddies create a special memory book for these kids, during the day a photographer will wander about capturing as many pictures as possible, at night we will scrap them! The whole scheme is funded by private donations and supported by some local Churches, the kids and their foster fanilies dont pay a cent so if you can help me to make the books this year something they will truly treasure for life, please get involved by considering doing several very basic pages for the kids albums, anything will be greatly appreciated and allow us to create amazing keepsakes for these children.
I will leave you with the Starfish Story, taken directly from the Southern Cross Site
A cliff-top jogger in Australia stopped to look down at the seashore below him.
He saw a young boy bending, straightening, throwing, bending, straightening and throwing, working his way along the sand.
The man started down the cliff path onto the beach and saw the reason for the boy's actions.
Littering the sand were hundreds of stranded starfish, beached by the receding tide. He watched the boy for a while before moving closer. "Hey son," he said.
"I can see what you're doing, but really, with more starfish being washed ashore all the time, what difference do you think it will make?"
The boy stopped and looked down at the starfish in his hand. "I don't know mister" he replied. "All I know is that it makes a difference to this one."
And he threw the starfish into the sea.
At Southern Cross Kids' Camps we endeavour to make a difference in the heart of a child, one child at a time through unconditional acceptance, understanding and compassion. Won't you join in the rescue operation of our "starfish" - hurting, abused and neglected kids in Australia?
If you can help, please post a comment here or email me at juliest35@optusnet.com.au
Your generosity will have far reaching effects and be greatly appreciated
Jules :)
