Sustainable Partnerships Australia (SPA) is mentoring year 10 students from Siena Catholic College and Chancellor State College about the importance of philanthropy in the local community.
SPA was lucky enough to receive a generous grant from the Buderim Foundation to inspire and teach students not only the theory and framework of philanthropy but also valuable event management skills that can be applied in practice.
On Sunday June 1, the students efforts will come together as they run their event, Jam For James which will be held at Chancellor State College.
SPA Project Officer, Amy Doran said that the students unanimously identified the local cause they would like to support as local Chancellor State Student James Norquay.
“At age 11, James was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he is now 14 and legally blind as a result of the location and size of the main tumor. James is missing five hormones, can’t regulate his body temperature, and is often dizzy and disorientated.
“The students from Chancellor were familiar with James’ condition, and they wanted to help out a fellow peer by fundraising for a laptop computer and special vision support software to assist James with regaining his independence and to help with his learning throughout the remainder of his schooling,” Amy said.
James has also recently had a shunt inserted into his brain to relieve some of the pressure and will soon be getting a hearing aid to assist with his hearing. James will require ongoing medical care for the rest of his life.
The group of 20 students from Siena Catholic College and Chancellor State College has been meeting weekly this term where they work through the different stages of event management from event concept, risk assessment, site plans, seeking sponsorship and donations to creating a run-sheet.
Amy said, that the students decided on a two-part event consisting of live local music acts followed by a screening of Despicable Me 2 on the big screen.
“The students agreed they wanted to create a fun event that incorporated music to tie in with James passion for drumming, and came up with the event name, Jam For James,” Amy said.
Amy said the students went one step further and wanted to fundraise a little bit extra to purchase a drum kit for James and set about making this happen by holding fundraisers at their schools during their lunch breaks.
“The students wanted to get James involved in the event, and asked James if he would like to run an art workshop and perform a drum solo at the event. James agreed, and local music school, Wild Hearts Music has donated free drum lessons to James in the lead up to the event, so James can learn a drum solo to perform on the night,” Amy said.
Buderim Foundation Heinz Seeberg said as part of its close cooperation with SPA, the Buderim Foundation’s Youth Committee regularly reviews the programme milestones.
“This project, developed by SPA in conjunction with the Buderim Foundation, will not only enable support for James, but also provides the Foundation an exciting opportunity to encourage and support our local philanthropists of the future,” Heinz said.
Jam For James will be held at the Blue Hall at Chancellor State College, Primary Campus on Sunday 1st of June. The music event will run from 2.30pm to 5.30pm with the big screen movie starting at 6.00pm and concluding at 8.00pm.
The event is open to the public and is $5 entry per person or $15 for a group of four. All activities including the movie screening are a gold coin donation. The event is strictly drug and alcohol free.
Amy said SPA and the student group involved with the event really encourage everyone in the local community to get behind the event by coming along to support James and the student groups philanthropy efforts.
For more information or to donate to the cause contact: Amy Doran on 0412 207 272 or amyd@sustainablepartnershipsaustralia.com.au.
Sustainable Partnerships Australia (SPA) is a not for profit organisation focused on creating highly effective strategic sustainable community partnerships. We pride ourselves on engaging in career, transition and all key community stakeholder groups. Our organisation was created as a result of the amalgamation of two high performing organisations within the Sunshine Coast and the Moreton Bay Regions in Queensland.
