NEWS DESK
Egg farm startup to fulfill a daughter’s dream Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au A FREE range egg farm being developed in Somerville is more than a commercial proposition: it’s a healing space for a family and friends to come together and grieve the death of a loved one. Lil’s Yolky Dokey Farm came about after Lily Grace Lanarus, 20, died in a four-wheel-drive accident in northern Victoria earlier this year. On May 13 – Mother’s Day – she would have been celebrating her 21st birthday with mother Jacqui Lanarus and her partner Gab Banay and friends. In the long, grief-stricken days after her death, the Frankston family developed a vision that would keep their daughter’s memory alive and constant. They knew that Lily had a dream to own her own bush block, raise pasture-fed hens, and sell their free-range eggs while operating a beauty salon on her farm. Within a few weeks of Lily’s death, the family found a 20-hectare property for lease and set about establishing the farm: Lil’s dream was well on the way to fruition. “Our Lily Grace was a sensitive, passionate and funny human being who was just starting to blossom and find herself,” friend Dani Pritchard, of Mt Martha, said. “She loved spray tanning, makeup, eyelash extensions and all things beauty, but equally she enjoyed her PJs, fluffy dressing gown, going bush and living in the outdoors.” Lil’s Yolky Dokey Farm has evolved into much more than just a
Happier times: Jacqui and Lily Lanarus before the accident, above, and a typical Friday night at the egg farm started in memory of Lily. Pictures: Supplied
business idea, Ms Pritchard said. “It’s a cathartic process that keeps everyone moving forwards as they grieve. It’s an outlet for Lily’s family and wide circle of friends to create something where they can feel close to her. It has become a healing space for us all to pour our love for Lily into something meaningful.” The six paddocks will eventually house 1450 hens in six chicken caravans. Automated doors will allow them to roam free during the day
while, at night, they will sleep on roosting perches. Their droppings will fall to the ground to become fertiliser. Numbers will stay at about 100 hens a hectare. The family believes low stocking density is the key to sustainable farming and providing a happy and healthy home for the brood. “The girls will be able to enjoy a dust bath, flap their wings in flight, lay in the sun and scratch and forage for bugs and grubs to their hearts’ content, living in the best conditions in open
pasture,” Ms Lanarus said. A Pozible crowd funding campaign (which ends in 16 days) to raise $10,000 will ease the financial pressures of establishing Lil’s dream. It will go towards building amenities, outdoor kitchen, composting toilet and running water for those who come to help and heal. “Once we hit our first target of $10,000 we would like to continue to raise another $15,000 for farm equipment, including a tractor, ride-on lawn
mower and four-wheel-drive for the farm,” Ms Lanarus said. “With our third target of $25,000 we can help Lil’s Yolky Dokey Egg Farm grow.” One of Lil’s friends summed it up: “I feel close to Lily when I am at the farm. All the hard work and effort that Lil’s tight friendship group has contributed is a reflection of how much she means to us all.” To follow and find out more about the family-run business visit facebook.com/Lils-Yolky-Dokey-Eggs.
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Frankston Times 28 May 2018
All in the family: Linda Perrin and husband Tony are care ambassadors for OzChild. Picture: Yanni
Foster carer calls for help A SAFETY Beach family which has looked after 25 foster children over the past five years says more carers are urgently needed on the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston. Linda Perrin and husband Tony are care ambassadors for OzChild with Ms Perrin also a fulltime foster carer. “With more and more children going into care due to mental health, drug addiction and mental health, there are just not enough carers to go around,” she said. “There are a lot of myths about Foster care, but the reality is that you do not have to be a fulltime married stay-at-home parent. You can work fulltime and do one weekend a month to give another carer a break, you can be single, gay or have other children – there are really no boundaries.” Ms Perrin said, despite the inherent joys of caring for little ones in desperate need of a loving home, many people shy away for other reasons. “Some are concerned that the biological parents will know where their children are and turn up at their house,” she said. “However, the reality is that most placements are undisclosed and the parents have no idea where their children are.” The need for more carers is obvious to Ms Per-
rin: In the past three months she has cared for a newborn, 13-month-old and 20-month-old. “Not all stay long-term,” she said. “Some come for a night; others for a week. We were meant to be short term (up to six months) but we had one baby from 17 months up until he was four-and-a-half and his newborn brother until he was 17 months.” While admitting to getting “very attached” to her charges Ms Perrin said the knowledge they were going on to long-term families where they would be loved and cared for eased the pain. To attract more volunteers, Ms Perrin is holding a recruiting drive at Bentons Square shopping centre, 1-3 June. “I’ll explain to people all about it,” she said. An information night will also be held at Frankston, 6.30-8.30pm, Tuesday 19 June. It’s on Level 3 of the Landmark Corporate Centre, 454472 Nepean Highway. Those attending are asked to use the side entrance near McDonald’s. OzChild has more than 300 staff and 400 volunteers, and 440 carers across foster care, kinship care and disability services in Victoria. On any given night OzChild makes sure over 300 Victorian children have a safe place to sleep, helping over 6000 children, young people and families each year. Stephen Taylor