During Term 4 last year, Grade 5 (our current Grade 6) brought in essential items and school supplies to donate to the flood affected regions in central west NSW. The towns of Canowindra, Eugowra and surrounds were devastated by the severe floods in November 2022. Jackson Bartley’s family were generous enough to call some of the schools in these regions. They transported these items themselves at the end of the school holidays.

This is some of Jackson’s and his Mum’s account of the journey:

With the addition of the Nowra Officeworks donation, we put together the packs of school supplies and travelled to Bedgerabong (near Forbes) and met with Kate, a representative of the school. She was very grateful for the donation. During the floods, the students and teachers were surrounded by water and some had to be airlifted out of the school. 

The next morning, we travelled to Eugowra, which was about half an hour away. We donated more of the school supplies to Eugowra Public School. St. Joseph’s Catholic School and the local pre-school students were sharing the space at Eugowra Public School. Driving through the town was really hard. Most of the homes were unoccupied because there was so much water damage. People were living in caravans and were waiting for tradespeople to help with the rebuilding of their homes. The footpaths and the roads were washed away.

Kylie from Eugowra Public School wants to thank the students from St. Michael’s for their generous donation. She said it is very overwhelming that so many people care about their small community. It will help so much with the long recovery.

Amazing effort!