Bookworms help kids in need
Bookfest Noosa, 3 – 5 May 2013
April 18, 2013
This is Zuri. Zuri is just like any other four-year-old girl, except for one thing: she is profoundly deaf in both ears.
She has been going to the Hear and Say Centre in Nambour since she was eight months old and she now wears cochlear implants. With the help of the Hear and Say centre, Zuri is a happy, healthy, normal little girl.
This year, from May 3-5, anyone can help kids like Zuri by picking up one of thousands of books on sale at the annual Bookfest Noosa co-ordinated by the local Rotary Club of Noosa Heads Daybreak.
President, Ian McDonald, says the organisation is delighted to once again be supporting such worthy local causes and members are already working long hours to sort the thousands of donated books that will be on sale on the day.
“Bookfest Noosa is the largest event of its kind in the region and we attract everyone from book collectors to social readers from as far afield as the Gold Coast and Bundaberg,” Mr McDonald said.
“We have such a fantastic range of books including fiction, non-fiction and children’s books, so people can stock up on great reads to last them through the winter months for only a few dollars. What we’re really proud of is that every dollar raised goes directly to one of our chosen charities.”
Hear and Say Centre Regional Development and Fundraising Coordinator Karen Von Homeyer said the proceeds are vital to help keep the centre going.
“We receive some Government funding but only enough to allow us to keep the doors open for 15 weeks of the year,” Mrs Von Homeyer said.
“It costs $10,000 per child to attend the centre per year, and each child stays for around five years. Any money raised on the Sunshine Coast through the community goes directly to helping local children like Zuri attend school and more fully integrate into the hearing community.”
More than $4 million must be raised this year across the state through community and corporate support so that other children like Zuri are able to attend a local school.”
The Bookfest also supports the Cooloola-Noosa Life Education Association, a group that teaches children how to make choices for a healthier and happier life, as well as other Rotary projects.
Cooloola-Noosa Life Education Association volunteer Trish Radge said the funds raised at the Bookfest will go towards fitting out a new mobile classroom.
“Last year, we visited 20 schools and six kindergartens on the Sunshine Coast with our mobile classroom and talked with 6,500 children,” Ms Radge said.
“The classrooms have big touch screens, puppets and an interactive body who lights up in different areas when talking about different parts of the body.
“It’s a very exciting atmosphere for the kids.”
Noosa Rotary club’s Robyn Opperman said the festival, which has been running for 12 years, is not only for bookworms.
“There will be BBQ and drinks stalls, raffle prizes and a bigger-than-ever interactive Children’s Corner. Harold the Giraffe from Life Ed will be visiting and entertaining the kids,” Ms Opperman said.
“Given the number of books we have, there’s something to suit every kind of reader so we encourage people to come along and support a great cause.”
The festivities take place daily between 9am-5pm from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 5 at the Bicentennial Hall at Sunshine Beach (off Sunshine Beach Road).
For further information please contact the Rotary Bookfest Noosa hotline on 1300 791 226 or visit www.noosaheadsdaybreakrotary.org.
Ends.
Media contact: Maya Gurry – Fresh PR & Marketing
P: 0410 109 102 E: maya@freshprm.com.au
Photo captions:
Zuri Bell
Karen von Homeyer (Regional Development and Fundraising Coordinator, Hear and Say Centre), Zuri Bell, Alexandra von Homeyer, Robyn Opperman (past President, Rotary Club of Noosa Heads Daybreak), Harold (Life Education Qld mascot), Ian McDonald (President, Rotary Club of Noosa Heads Daybreak) and Trish Radge (Secretary, Cooloola-Noosa Life Education Association)
More information:
Rotary Club of Noosa Heads Daybreak – www.noosaheadsdaybreakrotary.org
Noosa Heads Daybreak Rotary Club has been established for 13 years and its members of ladies and gentlemen from the community meet weekly to enjoy fellowship and support local, national and international causes. Members come from a wide range of occupations with one simple objective: to help improve the lives of others and have fun doing it! They have raised over $390k for charity to date.
Hear and Say Centre (Nambour) – www.hearandsay.com.au
Hear and Say was established in 1992 by Dr Dimity Dornan AM with just six children. The organisation now provides services and programs to over 500 children a year across six centres as well as an Outreach program for rural and remote areas.
Hear and Say are a not-for-profit organisation and must raise on average $10,000 each year, for up to five years, to teach one child with hearing loss to listen and speak. Hear and Say is a member of First Voice, the national voice for member organisations whose primary focus is the provision of listening and spoken language therapy services in Australia and New Zealand.
Hear and Say’s aim is to help deaf children to hear, listen and speak so they can attend a regular school, have wider career choices and can more fully participate in the hearing community. Hear and Say interfaces state-of-the-art hearing technology (digital hearing aids and implantable technology such as cochlear implants) with the Auditory-Verbal Therapy approach. Hear and Say’s success lies in the vital role that parents/caregivers play in teaching their children to listen and speak.
Cooloola-Noosa Life Education Association – www.lifeeducation.org.au/queensland/qld-about
Life Education Qld is a community-based independent organisation at the front line of educating young children about drugs and health.
Some 115,000 children each year take in the programs through their schools. Specialist educators with the aid of their mobile classroom and of “Harold the Giraffe” visit the schools and provide interactive training about identifying risks and taking informed decisions.
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