Wine lovers enable timely expansion of SunnyKids School Program

Traditionally, charity administration costs and wages chew up 40% of donations, bringing charities under constant and justifiable scrutiny.

How reassuring to hear that every dollar raised at the 2021 Travis Schultz Winemakers Master Class will fund the expansion of the SunnyKid’s School Program. In fact, up to 600 Sunshine Coast families will immediately benefit from the expansion of school services.

SunnyKids General Manager, Kathleen Hope, said thanks to this record-breaking fundraising by Travis Schultz and Partners, SunnyKids will be able to expand its renowned Mentoring Through Sports (MTS) program and the SunnyKids in Schools (SKIS) program in ten schools across the region.

“Thanks to the generosity of the Sunshine Coast business community, SunnyKids is proud to announce the expansion of our services that will result in nearly 3,000 hours of direct service provision and 144 hours of facilities program delivery, supporting 600 individuals within families who need it most,” Kathleen said.

“I am also excited to announce the launch of a new childcare centre program, aimed at supporting children during their transition from early learning to ‘big school’.”

The pilot program will begin in July 2021 and will initially involve one local childcare centre identified in partnership with the Department of Education.

“This new program hopes to reach children and families as early as possible to help them stay on track for a successful future, so I look forward to sharing the outcomes of this new program in due course,” Kathleen said.

The expansion of SunnyKids services is a direct result of the annual Travis Schultz Winemakers Master Class backed by NAB for SunnyKids, which saw a record-breaking $170,000 raised in May this year. This was the ninth year running for the sold-out charity event, which has now raised an impressive $610,000 for SunnyKids since its inception.

Not only is the expansion announcement welcome news for the Sunshine Coast community, it’s especially exciting for all those who took part in the Winemakers Master Class this year.

It’s reassuring for winemakers, sponsors, the organising committee and guests to know that SunnyKids will spend every dollar raised at this year’s event on the school expansion program.

It certainly makes the record-breaking fundraising effort all the more worthwhile. This year’s event was made possible due to the efforts of generous sponsors, event partners, an organising committee, SunnyKids and a hard working team of volunteers and guests. A big thanks to NAB who were the naming rights sponsor and made a sizeable contribution to event costs.

A huge thank you also goes out to our winemakers who we could not run this style of event without. Winemakers this year included Jane Ferrari representing the Barossa’s Brockenchack, Michael Roelofs representing Polperro Wines in the Mornington Peninsula, Andrew Quin winemaker of Hentley Farm in the Barossa, and Sarah Crowe winemaker at Yarra Yering in the Yarra Valley.

SunnyKids aims to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and disadvantage by providing opportunities for children and families through their SKIS and MTS programs.

SunnyKids MTS Program Facilitator and Brisbane Broncos alumni, Jack Reed, said it was fantastic news that the MTS will reach ten Sunshine Coast schools this year.

“It’s a sporting program with a difference in that we focus on healthy relationships and promoting positive core values within the children,” Jack said.

Participating schools select ten children to take part in the program who are identified as ‘at risk of disengagement’. This may present as social and emotional challenges, self-esteem issues, lack of confidence, risk taking behaviours and absenteeism including academic delays.

“We are finding that children who have participated in the program report an increased sense of self-worth and confidence, a better understanding of health, nutrition and wellbeing, and are equipped with the tools to better manage anger and conflict,” Jack said.

Complementing the MTS program is the strategic SKIS program, which supports children with social or emotional barriers to education by providing practical, needs-based responses to issues faced by families.

“SKIS provides intensive support to families with the aim of breaking the cycles of disadvantage and systemic dependence,” Kathleen said.

“SKIS is at the heart of the SunnyKids vision and we are so grateful that because of the generosity of so many, we can introduce this vital program to even more schools in our community this year.”

Wine lovers take a bow.

For further information on school’s programs provided by SunnyKids, visit www.sunnykids.org.au.

Andrew Quin, John Burnie NAB, Jane Ferrari, Michael Roelofs, Sarah Crowe and Travis Schultz at the Winemakers Master Class 2021