Backpacks 4 Vic Kids Site Launch

MELBOURNE-BASED children’s charity Backpacks 4 Vic Kids (B4VK) will officially launch its Bendigo site on May 1.

The ‘Tiny Site’, at the Bendigo Baptist Church in Junortoun, was relocated from Hallam and, according to B4VK Tiny Sites co-ordinator Alisa Jack, has been operating since February.

“We source essential items that go into our backpacks through donations from the community,” Ms Jack said.

“As a registered Australian charity, we rely on the generosity of the public, businesses and corporate partners. We are thrilled that for the month of June, 13 Officeworks stores including Bendigo are running a ’round-up’ campaign to support B4VK.”

Ms Jack said the Baptist Church site was ideal because it “enables us to provide first responders, including child-protection, convenient 24/7 access to material aid soon after a child has become displaced from their home”.

Ms Jack said that across all its programs, B4VK had provided more than 1100 packs to children in the Bendigo region already this financial year.

B4VK was founded in 2014 and its sites provide essential material aid to displaced children aged from birth to 17 who find themselves in out-of-home care, emergency accommodation, and homelessness.

Sites are refurbished shipping containers or self-storage units and provide 24-hour access at no cost to first response care workers involved in the protection of children in crisis. Gender-appropriate clothing, toiletries, sleepwear, torches, blankets, books and soft toys, and nursery items such as car restraints, port-a-cots, strollers and nappies are all available.

B4VK already has Tiny Site locations in Ballarat, Keysborough, Port Melbourne and Rochester, with more planned for Colac, Melton, Morwell, Vermont and Whittlesea.

The Tiny Site program is one of five aimed at supporting children in crisis, run almost entirely by volunteers. Each site has a ‘minder’ who monitors inventory levels.

“Their commitment ensures each item that goes into a backpack is in excellent condition because we believe that every child receiving a backpack should feel valued and know that someone genuinely cares,” Ms Jack said.

“To us, a backpack represents more than just a bag – it symbolises hope, comfort and the promise of a brighter future.”