By Gabriella Payne
Despite the difficulties of finishing their schooling during a global pandemic, two Pakenham Secondary students recently went above and beyond to help those struggling with homelessness in the community.
Piper Appleby and Disal Wenn, who both finished Year 12 recently, wanted to do something special for their final personal development skills class project and decided to choose an issue they felt passionately about – homelessness.
Ms Appleby said that after noticing “a spike in homelessness in the main areas around Pakenham since Covid-19” had taken hold, her and Mr Wenn started brainstorming on ways that they could make a difference and lend a helping hand to those doing it tough.
“Disal and I originally decided to do a donation drive at school, where we would get students to bring in donations, but because of Covid [and the lockdown] that fell through,” she said.
“So then we decided to contact other people, like our local MP Jordan Crugnale, and see if they could help us with the project in any way.”
After sending off a few enquiries, Ms Appleby and Mr Wenn were delighted to hear back from Ms Crugnale, who was happy to help with this fantastic initiative.
Together with Ms Crugnale’s help, the students were able to donate hundreds of ‘community at heart’ tote bags to the Bunyip Community House, filled with essential items such as toothbrushes and other essentials to help those in need.
“We wanted to do something like this to be able to give something back to the community,” Ms Appleby said.
“I think it’s important to help because homeless people are still a part of our community even though they don’t have somewhere to sleep.
“I think it was a good idea, because they need that little bit of extra support – especially right now,” she said.
As part of their project, Ms Appleby and Mr Wenn were able to run a special Webex class for Year 5 and 6 students at Pakenham Consolidated School where they taught them about homelessness and ways that they could be more aware and help the local community.
Ms Appleby said that this was an incredible experience and all the young students had “really enjoyed” their presentation.
The amazing work done by these secondary students just goes to show that a little kindness can go a long way and you’re never too young to make a difference to the lives of others.
