Jackie Clark
CHARITY QUEEN
A few things have been different this year. One has been working on video calls with [charity organisation] the Aunties. That saved us money and food, but, more importantly, we could talk about all the deep dark stuff that you can’t talk about when you meet in a cafe.
With the cost of living skyrocketing, we’re spending a lot more on food. Halfway through the year, I really noticed a crunch. A shopping list used to cost between $150 and $350 – for a really big one. And now they’re regularly $300.
Donations have gone down, too. I reached the limit of what I could do raising money on Twitter and have reinstated our email newsletter. That is a more intimate way of communicating with our donors and others.
As for the Aunties’ Christmas itself, it starts several weeks out when I begin assigning Christmas fairies to each of the women we help and their kids. We also give them an extra $500, and I love that they love it. I’ve outsourced Christmas, basically.
My own Christmas is at my brother and sister-in-law’s place. It’s very small now. Just nice food and good chats.
Looking ahead, one thing I want to happen next year is to set up a scholarship fund. One of the women we help is currently doing a master’s. We paid her fees for that this year – $5000. I want to get on to that and do more. I want the kids to have that option of going to university or wherever they want.
I’m hoping as the newsletter takes off that we get ourselves a really great close community of donors and people who are really interested in the work and who get what
