Earlier this month, our Busy Bees at The Park Service in Canberra held a Pyjama day to collect donations for care packages they created for troops currently serving overseas.
“Busy Bees at The Park recognise that a majority of our families are in Defence” said Service Manager, Ferne Owen. “This is a great initiative that we have done at The Park for the past 3 years and each year it is growing in participation and involvement.”
Ferne noted that this initiative has a lot of support from their local community, many of which are Defence families who are currently serving overseas.
“We are also aware that families from within our own Service are currently serving over in Afghanistan and we wanted to show our support, not only to the troops serving overseas, but also to support our families who are finding it difficult to be away from their loved ones, especially at this time of year being a time to share with family and friends.”
In support of their families in Defence, Busy Bees at The Park asked the children and Educators to dress in their PJ’s. Instead of a gold coin donation, families were asked to donate an item that could be sent over to the troops as part of the care packages.
“I had lots of feedback from families thanking us for the support of sending these over” said Ferne, “The feeling you have when you receive one of these, especially from an Early Learning Service where families had written messages on food items to the troops from the children, gives the troops who are away from their families that warm, loved feeling.”
One family commented on how blessed the troops were to receive these care packages.
Educators entered into conversations with the children regarding items going into the care packages and how special it will be when they receive them. The children were excited when their families handed them the item/s to place into the donation tub ready to be lovingly included in the care packages.
Busy Bees at The Park were able to donate a total of 18 care packages to troops overseas. Thank you again to the overwhelming support from families and the local community.
