Celebrating the women of our community For more than 100 years, the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women have been celebrated on International Women’s Day. All around the world, March 8 is a day to not only reflect on how far we’ve come but how far we have to go in such areas as accelerating gender parity. So join us as Liz Rogers and Kate Sears from Mornington Peninsula Magazine pay tribute to many of the women making their mark on the Peninsula and beyond in our annual International Women’s Day feature.
Women working together to make life better
Now this is something special. Ever wondered what it would be like to not be able to afford your kids’ school uniforms, let alone feed them? Unfortunately, it’s not such an uncommon situation, so Uniforms4U have decided to lend a helping hand.
Photo by Naomi Laws
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Forming two years ago in response to families needing help purchasing school uniforms and recently winning a 2019 Tidy Towns Community Sustainability Award, Uniforms4U is a free school uniform program supporting vulnerable families. This group of ‘committed to making life better’ Mornington Peninsula women work hard at ensuring disadvantaged children can go to school in uniforms just like everyone else does by a heads-down, hands-on approach. So how does this charity work? First, the ‘girls’ raid every op-shop and use social media to request donations. Then they collect uniforms, wash them and make sure they are repaired if need be. Finally, these repurposed uniforms are distributed free of charge to anyone who needs them. Brilliant! But that’s not all. Fundraising from Capel Sound Boomerang Bag ladies with the support of philanthropic donors enables the purchase of new school shoes for the kids too, and who doesn’t love a new pair of shoes? The cost of living can be challenging for many people, as Uniforms4U founder Colleen Mackay, pictured, and her team of busy-bee volunteers can appreciate. More than 280 families were clothed in 2019, while Christmas hampers and presents were also delivered last December to families who just needed a bit of help from the Uniforms4U ladies. Over the past couple of years, Uniforms4U has also helped families by providing them with information on accessing community services, ensuring they have school supplies and linking them with various agencies that can offer more support. None of this excellent behind-the-scenes work could happen without the dedication and huge support from the Mornington Peninsula web of women who work it. Take a bow, ladies, and accept the accolades. Well done. LIZ ROGERS
mornington PENINSULA
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