Crafty dollars for happy minds

AFTER months of selling her hand-crafted clothes pins, Damascus College student Sophie Busuttil has decided to donate a portion of her profits to Headspace Ballarat.

She said she couldn’t have raised the money without her friends, family and school encouragement.

“I’m not sure exactly how many pins but I ended up raising $311 from my pins which was around $2 from each pin sold,” she said.

“My school gives out social justice awards for the senior and junior year levels to someone who shows social justice

throughout the Ballarat community.

“I was lucky enough to receive the junior award this year and was able to donate an extra $150 to Headspace because you get to choose a charity of your choice to help the Ballarat community.”

Not only did Ms Busuttil design and create the brooches, as part of the fundraiser she also collaborated with local artist Shelby Sherritt on a flower shaped pin.

“I got to work with Shelby as well which was an incredible opportunity,” she said.

“The collaboration started during the Western Bulldog leadership program I was a part of, one of the youth service officers recommended Shelby to me so I got in contact with her and described the idea.

“We collaborated on a pin together and they were on her website, so heaps of the funds actually came from that collaboration which I’m also super grateful for.”

Earlier in the year, while selling her pins, Ms Busuttil got in touch with representatives from Headspace Ballarat to coordinate the eventual donation.

Although proud of her achievements, she said this is only the beginning of her fundraising efforts.

“I’ve been in contact with Andy from Headspace and he reached out after he saw my post on Instagram and they said it was incredible,” she said.

“He said businesses come in with thousands of dollars but the fact that I thought of them in this way, means a lot to them.

“I definitely want to continue doing fundraisers, that’s my main goal … if I can help in any way while doing my hobby and supporting my art, that would be fabulous.”