A GROUP of year eleven boarders from Ballarat Grammar have raised four thousand dollars for The SoupBus.<\/p>\n
Since establishing a relationship with the organisation as year 7 students in 2017, the Wigan House boys, including Liam Butler and Oliver Wischer, have volunteered as meal-servers at the bus, and regularly prepare sandwiches for the not-for-profit to provide to their clients.<\/p>\n
But in the last three years, the group has welcomed The SoupBus to Grammar twice. Wigan\u2019s year 11s served up some hot fundraisers from the kitchen on wheels, with support from their senior school peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sold soup to the students, and the funds raised were put back into the organisation to help them feed those that are disadvantaged in Ballarat,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had donations of 500 bread rolls on the day from Baker\u2019s Delight, soup was donated by the dining hall, and some we purchased with funds raised in-house.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the two afternoons, we served and sold roughly 15 pots of soup in the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n
OnTrack Foundation founder Craig Schepis worked with the young volunteer fundraisers on both occasions.<\/p>\n
\u201cCraig was driving the bus. He was really thankful, grateful and happy about what we were able to do, as we generated a bit more than what was expected,\u201d Liam said.<\/p>\n
Oliver learnt that OnTrack Foundation launched almost 13 years ago, and Mr Schepis has been leading it ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were on The SoupBus 2.0; the most recent version. The Foundation has been building up The SoupBus\u2019 capacity since 2008, and Craig is really proud of what\u2019s become of it,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
The Wigan boys have pride in their broader school and boarding family\u2019s \u201ccommunity service culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re encouraged to do as much as we can, and we like to encourage the younger students to do the same. Once they become senior students, they\u2019ll take our roles on, and the cycle continues,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a fundraising event comes around, it\u2019s always very well supported and we get a great turnout, especially amongst the boarders. It\u2019s just something that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A GROUP of year eleven boarders from Ballarat Grammar have raised four thousand dollars for The SoupBus. Since establishing a relationship with the organisation as year 7 students in 2017, the Wigan House boys, including Liam Butler and Oliver Wischer, have volunteered as meal-servers at the bus, and regularly prepare sandwiches for the not-for-profit to […]<\/p>\n