Sapphire Community Projects Inc in Bega, New South Wales | Charitable organisation

Sapphire Community Projects Inc

Locality: Bega, New South Wales

Phone: +61 490 843 518

Address: 2 Peden Street 2550 Bega, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.sapphirecommunity.org.au

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• Community organisation

25.01.2022 Sapphire Community Pantry in the press... https://www.begadistrictnews.com.au//fire-strikes-twice-c/

24.01.2022 Thank you to Rotary Club of Pambula for recognising our work with Sapphire Community Projects and the Sapphire Community Pantry with the award as Paul Harris Fellows.

24.01.2022 Please vote for our volunteers. We know they give the best customer service! And if we win, the Sapphire Community Pantry will receive $10,000 to continue its giving to the community. You can vote more than once, and voting closes Friday morning at 8am. Please share with your friends and relations.

23.01.2022 Only the best for the Bega Valley.

23.01.2022 In Cobargo today doing a little drop-in centre at Roly's Village Kitchen giving out food relief hampers and Community Pantry "show bags". Thank you Roly for th...e tea and coffee. We had a lovely chat to a number of people who dropped in. We got great feedback on the work we have been doing since the bushfires, our emergency food relief, the services from our Pantry in Bega and our Mobile Pantry service which has been servicing Quaama, Bemboka and soon Cobargo. More info about that later. Our Mobile Pantry is an important service linking people and sharing with community as well as helping people who are struggling to make ends meet. We have been getting requests for providing the service to Cobargo for some months now but before we could, we needed to do a few things (like get a van and helpers to provide the service). Thank you to Foodbank NSW & ACT for supplying low-cost emergency food hampers which we gave away today and also a big thank you to all our donors who provide the funding to enable us to give away the stuff that puts a smile on people's faces. The bags were donated by the Bega Valley Shire Council, frozen meals by Two Good Co. plus some "rescued" meals that fell off the back of a truck (well the truck fell over).

23.01.2022 Had to laugh today when a very large food charity on their national web site makes an offer to provide free food to vulnerable people. The catch is you have to pay that charity at least $1,980 if you want that supplied on a Monday to Friday, $2,250 on Saturday and $2,480 on Sunday! So much for free food. Meanwhile, at Sapphire Community Projects, through our food outlet the Sapphire Community Pantry and together with our partners such as Two Good Co., Foodbank NSW & ACT etc w...e have been providing free food including fruit & vegetables, bread and frozen meals to people in the greatest need. Some of the food we supply is donated, some of it is excess good food that has been "rescued", some is supplied at low cost and some of it is purchased wholesale or retail because we have no other option. The cost of running our services including the free food to people in need is provided by donations or a cost-recovery service in providing low cost food to people on low incomes (provided these people have the capacity to contribute). We won't charge you $2000 for a free meal but if you would like to help us continue supplying free food to people in the greatest need, please consider a donation. Your contribution of $10 or $15 will allow us to supply a FREE food hamper with enough food for one person for up to a week.

22.01.2022 Sapphire Community Projects Inc is proud to be able to support good people doing great work in our communities. Much of this goes unnoticed but it is great to see Veronica Abbott recognised by the NSW Premiers Award for Outstanding Community Service for her work with the Quaama Bushfire Relief Community Notice Board relief centre. Behind every outstanding person there are many others and Veronica and her husband Warren have been inspiring. When the relief centre required pub...lic liability insurance for continued use of the hall in Quaama, Sapphire Community Projects Inc stepped forward to provide auspicing support for insurance plus the backing of a registered charity entity backing for rental agreements and grants as well as contributing to the work done by Veronica and Warren. https://www.begadistrictnews.com.au//people-need-rebuildi/

21.01.2022 Do you need free, confidential financial counselling? A new service is available on the Far South Coast - Gabby Rosengren from "The Family Place" is available t...o help you. Gabby can meet you in her office in Bega, or at any other place which suits you and help you get your finances in order, advocate for you with financial providers, and provide advice around money and budget matters. Give her a call to set up an appointment - it's free and confidential. Gabby provides these services all over the Shire and Eurobodalla. https://familyplace.org.au/ See more

21.01.2022 Our first mobile pantry service using the new van. Will save about 10 volunteer hours over the weekend and about 10 litres of fuel by not needing 2 vehicles.

21.01.2022 The 2019/20 bush fire season devastated Australian rural, regional and remote communities. The COVID-19 pandemic then detracted attention away from the crucial recovery effort. While it's been a tough year for everyone, we know it's been especially tough for our fire-affected communities - particularly the kids.

20.01.2022 We have been working with Chris and Danielle and supplying free food hampers and new goods that we can manage to obtain. They are doing a magnificent job and it is people on the ground and in touch with their own communities that do the best.

20.01.2022 What a pleasant surprise arrived at the Sapphire Community Pantry today. A large carton of coffee for our coffee machine donated by South Coast Donations Logistics and Guerrilla Roasters. Our coffee machine is taking a rest for a short period of time while renovations are being done at the Pantry but this will be just what we need to christen our new multi-functional food-prep and coffee machine area. Sapphire Community Projects has been operating a coffee machine to provide real coffee on a pay what you can afford basis and also used to train people how to make coffees and provide experience in hospitality to enhance employment skills.

20.01.2022 Thanks to the generosity of donors, we are able to continue rolling out free food hampers to people in need who are trying to get back on their feet after the bushfires or are impacted by COVID-19. We have purchased another 75 hampers this week, and have been delivering an average of 40 hampers each week bringing the total for this month to around 200 hampers. The hampers are delivered by Sapphire Community Pantry and provided to people through partner organisations or dire...ctly to individuals who are referred by various agencies. As well as hampers, we have also been distributing new dinner sets, new warm winter clothes and fleecy towels, sheets and a few luxury items as well. A big thank you to Foodbank NSW & ACT, BIG W, Jeanswest Bega and Good360 Australia. Check out the top of our Sapphire Community Projects Inc page if you would like to help us continue this work and run the other projects that give back to the people in our community. Thanks.

19.01.2022 We are continuing to distribute food hampers through the Sapphire Community Pantry free of charge to bushfire and COVID-19 affected communities. Currently we can buy hampers at a low-cost from Foodbank NSW & ACT but prior to that we were making up hampers from scratch. The Foodbank hampers save us a lot of time and money. If you would like to contribute to the costs for buying and distributing hampers, see the details in the photos.

19.01.2022 We are so happy to be partnering with GIVIT and their donors, coordinating the receipt and supply of goods needed by people who have been affected by the bushfires. It started in the first week of 2020, when we were approached by GIVIT and their Regional Manager ACT / SE NSW Caroline Odgers. Caroline asked me what was needed down here, and she explained how GIVIT works - by seeking donors and goods, and matching them with people who needed them. Our first request was for wat...er filters for Bemboka and other areas. Almost by magic, water filters, purchased locally appeared and we distributed them. Next, Wyndham needed a BBQ for the sports ground and the people camping there. Voila, a BBQ was purchased locally and sent down. Next, 130 new Sealy mattresses distributed. Beautiful Lodge cast iron frypans, and Le Creuset stockpots distributed. Vouchers to purchase food from Woolworths distributed through the bushfire relief centres in the area. Mobile phones. Solar panels. New dishes, cookware, knives, cutlery sufficient for 30 families. A new kitchen and laundry for a mother of 6 who had lost her home. Water cubes. Sheets, towels. Backpack beds. Seven generators. Sporting equipment and toys for the kids of Quaama. Vouchers to be spent at local stores such as Southern Farm Supplies, the Bemboka Pie Shop, the General Store at Wyndham. And now, reconditioned, as new Dyson vacuum cleaners obtained and distributed to Tahmoor, Bemboka, Eden, Cobargo, Quaama, Bega and Wyndham - over 110, with an estimated value of over $77,000. This is just a small amount of the help received from GIVIT and managed by us. And more to come - Service NSW has asked us to be the conduit to GIVIT to funnel requests for help from their customers. We love helping the community, and we do this with the unstinting and generous support from our volunteers, our diamonds and our bedrock. Thank you.

18.01.2022 Sapphire Community Pantry is the main "project" of Sapphire Community Projects Inc. Projects is a registered charity and public benevolent institution that gives all the revenue we raise back to the local community in some way. We chose the word "Community" to be in centre of the name as Community building is our focus and part of that is helping overcome food insecurity as well as overcoming social isolation. Also part of our community are our volunteers - we couldn't exist ...without volunteers. We are fortunate that last year Merimbula Marina donated a whale watching tour for our volunteers. COVID-19 has put a bit of a dampener on similar activities this year but we are always trying to think of ways that we can reward our volunteers (and of course that has to be at no expense to the organisation due to governance reasons). We love what we are doing at the Sapphire Community Pantry and we love our volunteers as well as the community of which we are a part. Thank you to everyone that helps us do what we do. https://www.facebook.com/watch/

17.01.2022 Been a little quiet lately as we have been very busy. As most of you would know, the main "project" is the Sapphire Community Pantry. We get donations from people who shop at the Pantry and also donations into our bank account. This allows us to provide free food and new goods to people in need especially those impacted by the recent bushfires and COVID-19. We are lucky to have access to a range of new goods and partner organisations are often able to source the things people... need. This month we have provided over 150 food hampers for free, additional food including fresh fruit and vegetables which we buy locally or off wholesalers, some nice warm flannelette shirts, packs of school goods and new household items to fill many a kitchen and frozen meals. We spent over $2,000 of our funds this month to do this. Of course we gave away a lot of stuff we didn't pay for too. Recipients have included the Quaama Bushfire Relief Centre, Cobargo Bushfire Relief Centre, Mission Australia, Katungul Aboriginal Medical Service, people in the Bemboka, Wyndham, Candello and surrounding areas (and as far south as Kiah, north to Narooma and west to Cooma. Oh, and we would like to thank Inner Wheel Australia and Commonwealth Bank for the funds to allow us to purchase our lovely big van "Migaloo". We wish we could do more but we need your help to do this. Please consider a once-off or recurring donation. If making a donation to our bank account, please send an email with your details (and the details of your donation) to [email protected] to ensure you get a receipt for to claim the donation at the end of the year from the taxman. Thank you. Foodbank NSW & ACT Two Good Co. Good360 Australia GIVIT - Goods For Good Causes

17.01.2022 Thank you to Foodbank NSW & ACT for supplying emergency food hampers at a very low cost. Donations to Sapphire Community Projects Inc allow us to supply these at no cost to other organisations as well as individuals. Our delivery partners include Quaama Bushfire Relief Community Notice Board, Cobargo Bushfire Relief Centre, Mission Australia, Brighter Futures, Wom Ensouth Women's Resource Centre, Katungul Aboriginal Medical Service, the Soup Ute, community groups in Bemboka and Wyndham and as far afield as Cooma and Narooma (via local connections within the Bega Valley). Thank you to everyone who contributes to our ability to supply services to people in need.

16.01.2022 Community Recovery Grants...

16.01.2022 A big thank you to the Commonwealth Bank. We had a visit Matt Comyn, CEO of the Commonwealth Bank with a cheque for $50,000 (we were only hoping for $35,000 so a big surprise) which will be used to complete the funding for the Sapphire Community Pantry mobile pantry van and its fitout. We also received funding from Inner Wheel Australia towards the van.

16.01.2022 Wonderful to drop into Wyndham today to witness the delivery of 12 generators for fire affected people in the Wydham area. These were arranged through our charity partner GIVIT and brought down from Sydney by Paul & Shannon King of Excel Logistics Pty Ltd who donated their time and transport costs. We were informed the generators were donated by the United Arab Emirates Army - wow - how good is that!!!! Two of the generators will go to the Social Justice Advocates Of The Sapphire Coast and the remainder have been allocated to people in Wyndham and surrounding areas. Also thank you to Ainsley and Peter from the Wyndham General Store for providing a delivery staging point pending distribution.

15.01.2022 Something special happening tomorrow - it's been a very busy week so stay tuned!!!. In the meantime, we still had an opportunity to distribute hampers to Quaama and Cobargo and some to people who dropped in to the Sapphire Community Pantry and needed a little extra. Our hampers are purchased off Foodbank NSW & ACT at a very low price and we give them away for free, funded by donations from generous people in the Bega Valley and beyond. Speaking of donations, a few months ago... we received some gift cards through our connections with GIVIT - Goods For Good Causes. The gift cards had been provided to the Bega Valley Shire Council for bushfire relief and listed on GIVIT for distribution to a local charity. With cooler nights, the gift cards were used at BIG W to purchase flannelette shirts that have been requested by the Quaama Bushfire Relief Community Notice Board and Cobargo Bushfire Relief Centre. Everyone is a winner with 33 flannelette shirts off to bushfire affected people.

15.01.2022 An update on the cabin fire. This shows: * Before the bushfires * After the bushfires with work done during the bushfire recovery... * After the cabin fire * The caravan supplied by Social Justice Advocates Of The Sapphire Coast See more

14.01.2022 We have a small but devoted band of donors, who each week/month make a deposit into our charity's bank account. The money they donate is used to purchase food h...ampers and subsidise our fruit and vegetable purchases, allowing us to give away the hampers to those in need, and to provide fresh fruit and vegetables at very low prices. Without this band of donors, we would have to cut back on what we can give away. Thank you angels, you are so valued and so generous. And if you want to join the band of angels, why not make a small, regular donation direct to our bank account? For just $10 you can allow us to buy a food hamper and feed a family.

14.01.2022 Another visit to Quaama Public School today. More Lego Goodness plus a total of $2500 of vouchers from SportsPower Bega and Valley Gifts and Toys of Bega. The vouchers were from a donor to GIVIT - Goods For Good Causes and the Lego sourced via Good360 Australia earlier this year. Pictured is Christine Welsh of the @Sapphire Community Pantry with Beth accepting the goodies on behalf of the school.... A big thank you to everyone involved.

13.01.2022 We've made a page for Quaama Renewal Projects. Please like and follow so you can keep informed about all of our events and activities! https://www.facebook.com/quaamarenewal

13.01.2022 Are you interested in being a member of the Board of Sapphire Community Projects Inc? Having a say in our direction? Adding your experience and passion? Give me (Christine Welsh, President) a call on 0438 407 364, email [email protected] to find out more. WE NEED YOU! "All Board positions will be declared vacant at the AGM. The AGM will take place on Friday 25 September 2020 at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held at 2 Peden Street, Bega (subject to any limitations imposed by C...OVID-19 requirements) and light refreshments will be available. Social distancing will be maintained. If you are unable to attend in person, you may join the meeting via video conferencing. A link will be sent nearer the date. To vote at the AGM, or stand for any positions, you must be a financial member of Sapphire Community Projects Inc. This is not the same as being a "member" of the Pantry. Our Constitution which specifies a membership fee of $2 must be paid each year. If you have not previously been a member of the association, a $1 joining fee is also required. To save time on the night, it would be appreciated if you can pay your annual fee before the AGM. This will be essential for people not attending in person as you must be a financial member to have voting rights."

13.01.2022 I've only just seen this. What a wonderful, thoughtful thing to do. Thank you Jessica Maree De Bono.

13.01.2022 A very much appreciated donation from the Bega CWA - you ladies are fab!!

13.01.2022 Sapphire Community Projects Inc through the Sapphire Community Pantry's mobile pantry service is proud to be able to support Quaama and the restart of the monthly markets - now on the 3rd Sunday of each month. Hopefully there will be further easing of COVID-19 restrictions which will allow the market to grow a little larger.

12.01.2022 A big thank you to all the people and organisations who donated funds or goods in June - it was a bumper month with over $12,000 of donations passed onto individuals and organisations in the Bega Valley with a little bit finding its way to Narooma and Cooma via local contacts in the Bega Valley. We are continually amazed by the generosity of so many - it is greatly appreciated by Sapphire Community Projects Inc as well as the many people who receive the donations.

12.01.2022 And reminding everyone - the Sapphire Community Pantry will be at Quaama this Sunday from 12 noon to 2pm. We will have a selection of food and grocery items fr...om the Pantry in Bega, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, and some frozen meals too. We buy our food from another charity Foodbank NSW & ACT and pass them on to you at cost-recovery prices. What this means for you is that you can get incredibly cheap items and stretch the family budget. Everyone welcome, we will be at Quaama Hall. See more

12.01.2022 Please vote for the Sapphire Community Pantry- "Best Customer Service". Voting is open now and closes tomorrow, Friday, at 8am. I believe our volunteers provide... the best customer service on the South Coast - no, in the WORLD!! Recognise their selfless service by voting for the Pantry. As well, if we win, there is a prize of $10,000 which would be of immense help to our small non-profit organisation, to use to help those doing it touigh in the community. Plus a marketing package of $5,000. So, vote early, vote often during the day. share this with your friends too. https://www.2ec.com.au//104333-best-of-the-best-2020-voting

12.01.2022 Top up your water in the Quaama area. See details below.

12.01.2022 A piece in the Guardian which mentions the Quaama Bushfire Relief Community Notice Board and feedback from Veronica Abbott. Great to see a pic of the board in the note Quaama hall.

11.01.2022 The generosity of people is staggering. Thank you Refian. xxxxxxxx

10.01.2022 The Community Pantry has been through the thick of it and keeps going with the aid a of great team of volunteers and coordinators. The Sapphire Community Pantry was the first community-based pantry and was set up by Christine, Peter and an small band of others when other organisations decided it was too difficult to do. We made our start with the help of The Salvation Army Family Store Bega and Wom Ensouth Women's Resource Centre and it is able to make economic sense thanks to the ability to access low-cost food for people in need from Foodbank NSW & ACT as well as food rescued through OzHarvest Sapphire Coast and SecondBite.

09.01.2022 Some more pics from Friday's handover of the fire fighting trailer to the Quaama Bushfire Relief Centre. A big thank you to the Rotary Club of Corrimal and the Rotary Club of Bega for donating and registering a Firefighter Mk II trailer with a 1500L food safe water tank and pump. The Quaama Bushfire Relief Community Notice Board will use the trailer to get water to more than 40 fire affected homes that still don't have drinking water. The fire fighting trailers for transport...ing drinking water is an initiative of Veronica Abbott and these trailers will save people a considerable amount of money that would otherwise go to paying for the carting of water. The trailers are of course also available to assist with fire fighting and can be on standby when someone is having an authorised burn off. This trailer is the first of 4 with others being donated trough a St Vincent de Paul grant. It is intended the Quaama Bushfire Relief Centre will keep the trailers for a year while there is an ongoing need to supply potable water and then the trailers will be donated to local groups including the local RFS. Sapphire Community Projects Inc is proud to be able to support the Quaama Bushfire Relief Community helping with community rebuilding efforts and again, thank the Rotary clubs of Corrimal and Bega. The Rotary Club of Bega has been associated with the Sapphire Community Pantry since it’s inception and provided funding for the first pallet of goods ordered for the Pantry. The association with the Pantry and Sapphire Community Projects continues and we are most appreciative of their support.

09.01.2022 Yesterday fire returns to family of 6 children being raised by their mother. This family was badly affected by the 2019-20 bushfires. You can help us support people in the Bega Valley buy donating money or gift cards that we can use in emergencies to supply to families in need.

08.01.2022 A big thank you to Caltex Australia who donated fuel cards to Sapphire Community Projects Inc via GIVIT. These will be used by volunteers of the Sapphire Community Pantry who take food relief hampers and other goods from our Bega shopfront to outlying small towns such as Bemboka, Cobargo and Quaama. Donations such as this enable us to spend more on providing relief to communities still impacted by the 2019-2020 bushfires as they try to rebuild and get back on track.

07.01.2022 Did you know that the Australian Mint is releasing a "donation dollar"? It's a dollar coin, which of course can be spent as a dollar coin, but it's to encourage people to consider donating them to charities. Through Covid, most charities have been hard hit in their fund-raising activities. For example, the Sapphire Community Pantry, which pays its way for its activities through goods sold has had a big reduction in the number of customers coming in, and therefore much less in...come. The reasons for this drop are many-fold, but despite this drop in income, we are still giving away food hampers (costing us $10 each) to the Bushfire Relief Centres at Cobargo and Quaama, to other charities such as the Womens Refuge and Katungul, to Bemboka and Bega, and to anyone who is suffering food insecurity. So, if you find one of these Donation Dollars in your wallet or purse, could you consider giving it to the Sapphire Community Pantry? We have a donation box on the counter at the store. Or perhaps organise a collection amongst your friends, groups or work colleagues? And we are now open, as of next week, the 8th of September 2020, 4 days per week - from Tuesday to Friday. 11am to 2pm at 2 Peden Street, Bega, next to the rear of Mitre 10. https://www.abc.net.au//mint-releases-special-dol/12621404

07.01.2022 It's hard to keep up and I would say this week was a little quieter than some with around 40 hampers going out free to other agencies through the help of our donors plus other items like doonas, sheets, household goods and even arranging solar panels to go to a fellow living near Cathcart. We rely on a network of local people close to the source of need as well as the good will of donors and suppliers. Thank you to all our supporters as well as the magnificent team of volunteers that help us do what we do.

07.01.2022 Thank you HelloFresh Australia and Foodbank NSW & ACT. The following meal was cooked by one of the recipients of the free Hello Fresh hampers distributed by Sapphire Community Pantry - this meal is teriyaki rissoles with Asian salad and sprouts with potatoes.

05.01.2022 Very proud to have been involved with this great gift.

05.01.2022 On Sunday afternoon we were invited to have a look at the progress of the works at one of the families we have been helping. We started with food supplies and then got in contact (either directly or through our local contacts) with various people who stepped in to do the big stuff. The family lost building materials, sheds, tractors and other farm infrastructure. Now in place is an extension to their main "living" shed which contains a large kitchen. Work has also been done ...in the main living space. A separate "pod" building which contains two bedrooms and a full-sized bathroom. The main living shed is now lined (a little bit of work still to go) and has a wood heater installed and is quite comfortable. We only have modest resources but where we can, we make connections to enable things to get done. There are many players in this project and these include Minderoo Foundation, GIVIT - Goods For Good Causes, IKEA, the Bay Team and South Coast Donations Logistics Team (Socodolo). Special thanks goes out to Jenny Anderson who is one of the helpers for the Sapphire Community Pantry's mobile pantry service to Bemboka. Jenny has been a key player in ensuring everything comes together.

04.01.2022 Helping out where we can. Thank you to GIVIT and Dyson

04.01.2022 Volunteers are our bedrock. During the Covid19 era, some of our volunteers have taken a bit of a time-out, to care for their own or a loved one's health. But th...ere is much research showing that volunteering is good for your mental and physical health. We know this because our volunteers tell us so, but if you want some research to back it up, here's what a recent ANU study found about the impact of Covid19 on volunteers who stopped volunteering: "Volunteers are an important and valued part of the Australian community. They come from all walks of life and provide services that may not otherwise be provided, often for those who are most vulnerable in the community. Volunteering also has been shown to provide benefits to the volunteers themselves. The spread of COVID-19 has had a substantial social and economic impact on Australian life, compared to any other short period of time in Australias modern history. Around one-third of volunteers have been able to continue volunteering, and this group has been less affected by COVID-19 with life satisfaction and mental health benefits having been maintained. For the other two-thirds or so of volunteers who have had to stop equivalent to 12.2 million hours per week the wellbeing declines and worsening in mental health have been large. Volunteers have done their part in following the physical distancing requirements, at a large cost to themselves and to the communities that they serve. Finding a way to harness this volunteer workforce throughout the current pandemic is a vitally important policy challenge." https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org//research-briefing/

03.01.2022 GIVIT and Doss O'Sullivan - you rock! A few weeks ago GIVIT contacted the Pantry and said they had access to new generators. Did I know of anyone who wanted one...? No, I said, but I know just the person to ask - Doss O'Sullivan. Rang Doss, yes please he replied. A few days later, 7 generators were delivered to the Wyndham General Store by Excel Logistics, who donated the transport. The generators were donated by the United Arab Emirates Army. They have now been distributed, and here are a couple of photos of two very happy recipients: John of Cathcart, and Wombat of Creewah. Thank you thank you GIVIT, Doss O'Sullivan, UAE Army, Excel Logistics and the Wyndham General Store. See more

03.01.2022 Come and support the Bemboka Lions Club at the Bemboka Memorial Haal today. Have a free lunch, buy a Lions Christmas Cake and maybe a little donation to help

03.01.2022 Local heros like Danielle Murphy make this place tick. Seven months on...

03.01.2022 It was a little over 8 months ago volunteers from the Sapphire Community Pantry were in the thick of it helping at the bushfire evacuation centre in the Bega Sh...owground. Right through the bushfires, volunteers from the Community Pantry were helping where they could. Christine Welsh of the Sapphire Community Pantry with the Salvos' Captain Rod Parsons at the Bega Showground. The Sapphire Community Pantry and its parent organisation Sapphire Community Projects Inc is still helping people affected by the bushfires providing food hampers to help with the daily cost of living as well as sourcing items of use to go to bushfire affected areas. The full story that goes with this picture can be found here at https://aboutregional.com.au/bega-evacuation-centres-ready/

02.01.2022 Today we met up with Caroline Odgers from GIVIT, and the Principal of Quaama Public School, Daniel Roe to give to the students some more great Lego kits, source...d via GIVIT and donated by Helen, a teacher in Marrickville. Daniel said the kids are absolutely thrilled to be able to play with Lego - at school!!! He has a team of kids who love making the toys, and fortunately, another team who love breaking them down into their component parts, a perfect match don't you think? Thank you GIVIT for facilitating this donation and thank you Helen for your generous donation. See more

01.01.2022 Sapphire Community Projects Inc would like to extend a huge thank you to the person, business or organisation that made a good-sized donation this last week. The donation comes at a time when the need for emergency food relief is growing. We don't get any government funding to supply emergency funding. We do it because there is a need. If whoever made the donation would like a receipt, please send an email to [email protected] identifying when the donation was ma...de, the amount and how it was made. If those details match, we will send you a receipt for tax purposes. Thanks again.

01.01.2022 Congratulations to our Awards Australia Connecting Communities Award 2020 Semi Finalists! Active Farmers Armidale Family Support Service Incorporated Th...eresa Mitchell Banjo Paterson...more than a Poet Museum Bradley Dunn Christine Welsh Country Education Foundation of Australia (CEF) Lake Macquarie Sustainable Neighbourhood Alliance The Community of the Cobargo region The Y NSW The Awards Australia Connecting Communities Award recognises grass-roots, real life initiatives (led by local community groups or not-for-profits) that demonstrate genuine involvement, long-term value and add to the life of their community. Winners will be announced at the Awards Presentation on Friday 20 November 2020. #communityawards #communitymatters #connectingcommunities

01.01.2022 One of the reasons we are looking for people willing to make cloth face masks.