CRIKEY! THAT'S A LOT OF CASH
Updated: May 19, 2020
Anything that happened before the coronavirus lockdown feels like ancient history, but it was only a few months ago when the world watched in sadness as wildfires swept across Australia.
The fires took a staggering toll on the country’s amazing wildlife – including the beloved koalas.
A student in our kindergarten class – the Bumblebees – was particularly distressed by the terrible losses and wanted to help.
“She was upset, so we talked about it in our class and we decided that raising money would be the most useful thing we could do,” says kindergarten teacher Mimi Lewis.
Mimi created donation jars and placed them in every lower school classroom, the lower school office and the middle school beginning in January.
After the lockdown put an early halt to the drive, the money remained uncounted until last week. The final amount came as an exciting surprise when Mimi shared it with the Bumblebees during a distance learning Zoom meeting: more than $400.
“The jars are big so it didn’t look like that much money, but it adds up fast when you have all of those different jars,” Mimi says.
The money was given to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors, a wildlife conservation organization founded by the late Steve Irwin and his wife, Terri.
Mimi is strongly considering repeating the drive to support some other worthy cause next year.
“I think it’s great for the kids to be able to look out into the world and see that there’s a difference they can make in a child-friendly way,” she says.
MIMI’S QUARANTINE CUISINE
“I have a lot of people in my house who are cooking for me. I’m just not a cook. That’s not what I do. We had some very delicious shrimp fajitas the other night. Two of my daughters are here with us and my family worked together to make them.”