Suzie Donleonard, the final Community Gift winner, works with Anglicare Victoria, in the Albury-Wodonga region. Her $500 gift will go to the ‘Sharing Stories Walking Together’ group which has been meeting regularly for over 12 months, working towards a relationship of understanding and co-operation between the Anglican and Aboriginal communities.
The group aims to identify community needs and, together, explore how the needs can be met and an understanding of the two cultures enhanced. There are a number of activities already in place including:
1) education and employment options for young Aboriginal people;
2) supporting a community to address bullying in a local primary school;
3) supporting and mentoring young people who have had problems with the law to become contributing citizens;
4) providing emergency relief in the way of food and groceries for people suffering hardship etc.
Suzie says she will use the $500 “to provide meeting venues, hospitality and publicity to enable the group to meet on a regular basis to determine how it could work to address locally identified needs.”