Over 150 local children who responded to a knock on their door Thursday, would've been met with a very cool surprise on their doorstep.
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Despite being on holiday, teachers and support staff at Glenroi Heights Public School spent countless hours organising, putting together and delivering packs for students called 'Burra's Little Bags of Joy' (named after the school mascot).
Teacher and Schools as Community Centres Facilitator Rachel Livingston said she rang six different businesses to see if they would like to donate items to go into the holiday packs for 170 children and their families and all six responded with hundreds of items.
"We're just trying to bring a little bit of joy to them in the holidays," Mrs Livingstone explained.
"We know that families are doing it tough everywhere. Our families have been learning from home for as long as everybody else... but some don't have internet, some don't have Chromebooks, etc."
Some of the many donated items in each bag included: craft supplies and card games from Centacare; ingredients from Woolworths to make biscuits; helmets, teddy bears and bats and balls from Orange Aboriginal Medical Centre; chocolates from Coles (for parents and guardians); fidget spinners, balls and other items from Birrang Enterprise, and basketballs, footballs and a kit to make a model of a Bunnings store from Bunnings.
Mrs Livingstone said that the Little Bags of Joy were the result of a collaborative effort of all the businesses and organisations that readily came on board to help.
"They all donated something that's going to bring a little bit of joy when the kids open the bags," Mrs Livingstone said.
"[The Little Bags of Joy] were just a way to give something to the families who have been schooling from home, to give them some activities which they could take outdoors and play with [like] the balls and the bats and the Frisbees.
"There's not one pack which is probably the same as the next pack because we had such a range of things donated."
The bags also included self-care packs for parents and guardians which included chocolates and other goodies, she said.
"It's taken a fair bit of coordination, but we've had people in here and... it's just been a-buzz [with excitement]," Mrs Livingstone said.
"I think they're getting as much out of making these packs as the kids will get out of receiving them."
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