St Aloysius students sell ice cream for literacy

NOTHING is better than a good book, but raising funds for other people to enjoy a good book of their own is a close second, and thanks to the hard work of two grade one students in Queenscliff they are helping to lift literacy levels in remote Indigenous communities.

Due to COVID-19, St Aloysius Catholic Primary School students Holly Quinton and Rosie Sullivan were unable to celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day on September 1 due to the lockdown at the time, so the pair took matters into their own hands.

Rosie and Holly organised their own driveway ice cream stall to raise some extra funds.

The efforts made by both girls, coupled with a school casual clothes day, helped raise $235 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

“We thought we could raise some extra money and get more people involved. We wanted others to know about our fundraiser.

The driveway fundraiser was an extra activity to go with our fundraising day at school,” Rosie said.

“The fundraiser in our driveway meant we could safely see lots of people and let them know about the Indigenous foundation. It was fun!”

Ice cream was an easy decision for the girls to base their idea around and it was not the only thing on sale at their driveway fundraiser.

“We chose to sell ice cream because we thought most people like to eat ice cream and it was easy to organise. We also sold ANZAC biscuits and fudge. Our families helped us to make the extra snacks,” Holly said.

“It’s a good fundraiser because some of the Indigenous communities don’t have as much as we do.”

According to teacher Karyn Phillips, junior school students participate in Indigenous Perspectives classes every fortnight, where they have shown a great deal of interest in learning more about the First Nations.

“We began our fundraising for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation last year. In previous years we have also been involved in the Indigenous Literacy Great Book Swap which raised money for rural Indigenous communities,” Ms Phillips said.

“We have a huge focus on social justice at St Aloysius. The children realise the importance of looking out for others and supporting where possible. They have a real sense of pride that they can make a difference.”

Head to the indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au for more information on the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and how you could donate money to buy culturally relevant books for communities around the country.