Mum Starts Back-to-School Drive For Struggling Families

A mother has started a back-to-school drive to help struggling families get ready for school.

Mum Naomi Killalea, 26, from Sydney, and her partner Michael are volunteers for a charity, The Movement, which is involved in a back-to-school drive to support struggling families.

She told Kidspot that she thought about this program after she went shopping for school supplies with her seven-year-old daughter, Makayla, who is starting Year 2. She said that at the store, where she would buy new shoes for Makayla, she noticed a family with three young children. There, she realised that there must be many more families who needed help getting prepared for the new school year.

“The store was having a massive sale, the shoes were a really good price. I heard the mum tell her children, they could all get a new pair of shoes this year.

“The youngest child was nearly in tears. He was so excited to get a new pair of shoes. I was so happy for him, and then my heart sunk. They must be struggling for him to be so happy over a new pair of shoes,” she said.

Naomi then took the incident to Facebook to find someone in need who she could help.

“Tomorrow is back to school. Most of us are excited (mums and dads included), but I know this is a hard time for many, some can’t afford to buy the back to school basics.”

“A lot of us turn a blind eye to this and may not even realise there may be people out there with nothing ready for tomorrow or using old ripped bags and shoes with holes,” she wrote.

She then offered to take a parent shopping to pick out new school supplies.

“Getting new school supplies is meant to be an exciting and happy right of passage to the beginning of the school year yet for some this causes stress and financial hardship.

“This is for someone truly struggling, if we can just reach out to one family and make this year better for them we would be over the moon,” she wrote.

Almost immediately, a mother-of-one contacted Naomi and sent her a list of items needed, including shoes, books and pencils. She and her partner spent about $80 to get what she needed and a few extra items to make it more special. “She came over to pick it up and she was so thankful, she was in tears,” Naomi says.

“It’s hard for some people to reach out when they’re struggling. She thought there were people worse off than her, but I told her she deserved it, she had done an awesome thing for her child by reaching out.

“And if we could provide it why not, it will make starting school for her child so much better,” she said.

Now, her random act of kindness is being replicated in other areas. “Even a lady from Queensland asked if she could do it, I said everyone can do it. If you are in the situation to help, big or small, of course you can do it. It had a ripple affect which was amazing, from a small random act of kindness,” she said.

Source: Kidspot.com.au