Young hearts deliver big kindness

A simple idea from an Arana Hills 12-year-old has brought a school community together to help people doing it tough, and even landed her an interview on Brisbane radio.

Year 7 student Liv Carlson enlisted the help of friends Tilly, Sophie and Vihana to organise a four-week food drive at Prince of Peace Lutheran College in Everton Hills, collecting groceries for Brendale-based charity Nourish Street.

The girls set themselves an ambitious target of 2000 items and were well on their way after collecting more than 800 in just the first two weeks.

Their efforts caught the attention of Brisbane radio station 4BC, which interviewed Liv about the drive, while families and classmates rallied behind the cause.

"I wanted to do something to help people who don't have a home or enough to eat. Seeing everyone bring in so much food has been amazing, and I couldn't have done it without Tilly, Sophie and Vihana" Liv said ahead of the final collection.

A little friendly competition helped keep donations coming, with Domino's Arana Hills offering 10 pizzas for a party for the class that collected the most food.

The four-week effort culminated on November 6, when the Nourish Street truck visited the school's Senior Campus to collect the donated groceries.

The girls also attracted support from Member for Ferny Grove Mark Furner MP, who arranged to take them shopping at Coles for additional supplies.

For Liv's mum Kate Carlson, seeing the girls turn an idea into something that could help so many people has been a proud moment.

"We're so proud of Liv and her friends. They've shown that you're never too young to make a real difference in your community. Thank you to the Prince of Peace families and to Domino's Arana Hills for getting behind them," Kate said.

The donations will support Nourish Street's work providing hot meals, groceries, tents and other essentials to people experiencing homelessness across the City of Moreton Bay and Brisbane.

The family-led, volunteer-powered charity says it serves about 900 meals a week, relying on community generosity rather than government funding to keep its services running.

Anyone inspired by the girls' efforts can help by dropping food donations directly to Nourish Street at Unit 9, 37-39 Kremzow Rd, Brendale, or making a financial contribution at nourishstreetinc.org.