By Jed Lanyon
It’s February, but Santa Claus’ gifts keep on coming for several charity organisations who benefited from a partnership between Saint Nick and Seville’s Branded Burger Bar.
The burger bar came to the rescue when they partnered with Santa, who had seen his role replaced at Chirnside Park Shopping Centre in the lead up to Christmas. Many locals far and wide were able to keep up their Christmas tradition in getting a family photo with ‘The Real Santa’ who they had grown to love.
The unlikely tandem tallied upwards of $30,000 from their family Christmas photos and then selected four charities to each receive $8400 to help make the lives of children better.
The four recipients of the funds included: Backpacks 4 Vic Kids, A Better Life For Foster Kids, HeartKids and Chum Creek’s Good Life Farm. The organisations shared how the funds had already been put to good use.
Backpacks 4 Vic Kids CEO and founder Sally Beard told Star Mail the donation came as a “delightful surprise”.
“we’re very, very grateful on behalf of the children, whose lives that it will impact,” she said. “We have absolutely put that money to good use.”
Ms Beard shared that the $8400 donation from Branded is aiding 112 children in need with care packs filled with toiletries, spare changes of clothes, a toy and more.
She estimated the donation would allow Backpacks 4 Vic Kids to distribute around $33,600 worth of material relief to those children in need.
“(We) provide material aid for children who are displaced anywhere from birth to 17 years old. They can be displaced for many reasons and the majority of children who will be receiving these packs are removed from places where they are not safe.
“For children often forgotten, it reminds them that somebody does care.”
A Better Life For Foster Kids founder and coordinator Heather Baird said Branded did a “marvellous job”.
The Gippsland based organisation puts on an annual camp, which is now almost entirely funded by the burger bar’s donation, saving much needed time and resources from usual fundraising efforts.
“When we got the money from Branded, I was looking to pay the deposit on the camp and I thought, well that’s paid for our camp this year, we don’t have to worry about anything else,” Ms Baird said.
“It’s just taken the pressure off me to fundraise… It’s really come at a wonderful time.”
“It’s important to acknowledge when these small businesses are supporting you. They don’t have this great, big corporation backing them, they are everyday Australians doing amazing things like the work Branded Burgers have done and it’s incredible.
A HeartKids spokesperson described Branded’s fundraising efforts as “a wonderful success”.
“Money from this goes to supporting Victorian families when they need it most.
“It is important to be a listening ear for parents and extended family, often separated by distance and circumstance. We can also assist by providing emergency care bags, food parcels, some financial assistance, referrals to Allied health professionals and specific medical equipment when required. We connect families together so they feel less alone in their journey.”
Lesley Porter from the Good Life Farm said she was “blown away” to see support come locally.
“We don’t get a lot of local support financially, so it was really nice they thought about us,” she said.
Good Life Farm put the money towards buying a new truck, which they will use to transport their farm animals to locations such as nursing homes, where elderly residents can experience the joys of the farm.
Branded Burger co-owner Gina Braidner said she was “wrapt” at being able to raise the money through the Santa family photos and admitted she was optimistic to think they could raise $25,000 at the time.
She said she hoped they could organise for Santa to come back next Christmas.
“If we can, we will,” she said. There’s just a few factors and if we have somewhere to put him, we’ll make it happen.
“He loves it and is in his element. It’s what he does. He spends the year getting prepared for the month of December and his whole year comes together in that month really.”
