03 May 2022
Students of DARE program raised funds to buy supplies for Tonga.
Tropical shirts remind us of vacations and days by the beach, but Lyneham High School put on their tropical shirts for a more serious occasion.
The high school’s Developing Adolescent Resilience and Enterprise (DARE) program, for male students of Lyneham High, organised a fundraiser to wear tropical shirts and serve a homemade punch to raise money for the island of Tonga, which was affected by a volcanic eruption and tsunami in January of this year.
Lyneham High students purchased punch or donated funds, raising over $800 in a single day’s effort.
“We all heard what was happening in Tonga in the news, and it was very much on our minds when choosing an initiative to fundraise for,” said James Etherington, School Captain and member of the DARE program.
After raising funds, the program were trying to find a suitable charity connected to Tonga to donate to when they came across a call out for supplies from the Tongan Disaster Relief Project.
“It was perfect timing as they were after supplies like sporting equipment and stationery, not necessarily cash, and I thought it would be good for the boys to see what the money raised would buy,” said Rachel McGann, head of the DARE program.
The money was used to buy a range of sporting equipment and stationery supplies that could be passed down to the students and children of Tonga.
“The local community, teachers and students also donated some second-hand sporting equipment,” said James.
President of the Tongan Association Canberra and Chair of the Committee for the Tongan Disaster Relief project, Sikahema Aholelei, and a member of the Tongan High Commission visited Lyneham High School to accept the supplies, thankful for the support.
The DARE program chooses a range of different charities throughout the year to support and appreciated being able to provide supplies to the Tongan community.
“It’s really nice being back out fundraising after COVID, doing things around the school and for the broader community,” said James.
Student of DARE program pictured with Sikahema Aholelei.