“If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing—by far—is to support organisations that will create a better world for them and their children.”
— Michael Bloomberg
Written by Stephen Ballinger
Why we give is often a deeply personal thing. I tend to be moved by children, and their stories, and so I am attracted to organisations that provide opportunities for children to have a better life. Some people are moved by the plight of homeless people or domestic violence victims, and so they will be attracted to organisations that support people in those situations.
The story of a friend, Trevor, who established a charity that has changed the lives of many children, their families, and their community, illustrates this beautifully.
Trevor was getting close to retirement and thought he might be able to solve the problems of the world. He sponsored a young boy through the charity, Compassion, and flew to the Philippines to meet the boy and his mother. On arrival he realised that they were living in an old pig pen that had been converted to living quarters. He was shocked at the squalid conditions and amazed that the boy and his mother were so happy, kind and grateful for what they had, and for the generosity Trevor had shown them. Trevor was a blubbering mess within 10 minutes and called his wife and told her that he had just worked out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
Long story short, Trevor and his wife have since purchased land, built a community centre that is owned by the community and provides employment opportunities to locals, and sponsored more than a hundred children through their schooling. In the meantime, they also established a charity, which provides scholarships for high school graduates to go to university.
Their enthusiasm has rubbed off on to others, and as a result, the work and generosity of many people who have become involved, has completely transformed this community. The knock-on effect of each child who completes their education and goes on to secure well paid employment, changes the entire family, and community.
It has been my privilege to witness this first-hand since 2016.
Giving at Ballingers
Each year, in lieu of sending Christmas Cards, we donate $4,000 to Soul Hub in recognition of the incredible work they do. In 2023, the Soul Hub served 49,000 meals and had 300,000+ conversations with vulnerable people in our Newcastle community.
We also make donations to the following organisations:
This Australian charity provides a reading support program where students read to an accredited Story dog and their handler (super adorable).
The absolute magic of the program is when they put a child and a dog together. It’s the accepting, non-judgmental, loving nature of dogs that helps the students relax, open up, try harder and have fun while reading to a friendly, calm dog. They regularly see amazing growth in student’s confidence levels and reading skills, often in very short periods of time.
This initiative helps children develop a love for reading and improves literacy skills in an engaging and supportive way.
Literacy is a significant concern in Australia. According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study from 2022, 28% of Year 4 students were not meeting the expected reading proficiency standards.
Early intervention is crucial, as children who struggle with reading at a young age often face continued challenges throughout their education and into adulthood. 2023 data from the ABS indicates that about 43% of Australian adults have literacy levels below Level 3, which is considered the minimum standard for managing everyday life and work.
Story Dogs came about for us as one of our clients, Leonie McGlynn, starting volunteering for the program during her retirement.
Leonie is now the Newcastle Coordinator for Story Dogs and has 3 gorgeous Cobberdogs. One of her dogs Ted is an accredited Story Dog and goes to school two days a week.
If you are interested in knowing more about Story Dogs, please contact us and we will connect you with Leonie.
Story Dogs
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The Smith Family focuses on helping young Australians to overcome educational inequality caused by poverty. In 2022, 159,753 disadvantaged children and young people received support through Smith Family programs. They are also committed to safeguarding children and young people from abuse and neglect within their families and communities.
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The Amy Gillett Foundation was established in 2005 following the death of Amy Gillett, who was killed by a driver on 18 July 2005 while she was cycling in Germany with the Australian women’s cycling team. The Amy Gillett Foundation has evolved to become the leading cycling safety organisation in Australia, driven by a core mission to reduce the death and injury of cyclists by working with all levels of government, road authorities, corporate, motoring, cycling and community safety organisations and the public to create a safer cyclists environment in Australia.
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Friends of Ashraya is an Australian charity whose purpose is to advance social welfare, health and education. Their primary focus is to raise money for Ashraya in Bangalore, India, a school and children’s welfare home that caters to vulnerable children to empower them for a sustainable future.
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Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation is an independent charity established to raise funds and awareness for Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia to eradicate obstetric fistula, and support partnership development. Using a Woreda-by-Woreda (district) approach, Hamlin-trained teams visit each and every household, in both rural and urban areas of Ethiopia, to find women living with an obstetric fistula injury, and organise care and treatment.
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Youth Off The Streets is a not-for-profit youth organisation working with young people, their families and communities to create safety, offer support and provide opportunities to build a positive future. Their services include crisis accommodation and housing services, independent high schools, alcohol and other drugs counselling, youth justice support, life skills and employment programs, cultural support and community engagement, among other services.
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MALIPAI is an Australian based charity providing opportunities for the people of Abkasa near Bacolod on the island of Negros in the Philippines.
MALIPAI constructed and maintains a community centre owned by the local people, which provides enterprise development grants for small business startups, financial literacy training for enterprise development recipients, skills training, basic education program for children living on the streets, manufacturing including employment opportunities, and tertiary scholarships for the entirety of a university or college course, to around 40 new students pa.
