Teaching spirit of Christmas

Families and staff at Sesame Lane Care and Kindergarten centres across the Moreton Bay Region will bring smiles to the faces of less fortunate children this Christmas, donating hundreds of gifts to The Pyjama Foundation.

The Pyjama Foundation was founded in 2004 to give children in foster care the opportunity to change the direction of their lives with learning, life skills, and confidence.

Alarmed at the statistics highlighting poor literacy and numeracy levels of children in care, and how this contributes to a lifetime of disadvantage, founder Bronwyn Sheehan made a decision to offer hope and a more positive outlook for these children.

Through the Love of Learning Program, volunteers called Pyjama Angels are matched with a child in care and spend just one hour a week focusing on learning-based activities.

They read books aloud, play educational games, and help children with their homework. In that time, they demonstrate that this child is valued and loved.

Ms Sheehan says she is grateful for Sesame Lane’s support.

“Sesame Lane have been incredible supporters of The Pyjama Foundation for so many years, getting involved in National Pyjama Day, sponsoring our training manuals for volunteers and of course providing generous donations to our Christmas Appeal,” she says.

“This year they have truly outdone themselves, donating the most beautiful selection of gifts for the babies right up to our teenagers.

“We will be giving out more than 400 Christmas Gift donations to our families across the Greater Brisbane Region and couldn’t fulfil this need without the support of the Sesame Lane team.”

Generosity shines

Head of Sesame Lane Kerri says families and staff have outdone themselves this year.

“We were impressed by the generosity of our families and employees, not only was it one of the biggest collections of toys we've delivered to The Pyjama Foundation, but what really surprised us this year is that the contributions were quality toys and gifts, such as someone contributed JB HiFi vouchers for teens, which we know are hard to buy for,” she says.

“There were a lot of brand names and licensed toys, the community really dug deep this year.

“We were also able to bring some other local businesses onboard to help with the Toy Drive. Fitstop Redcliffe, Bunnings Rothwell and The Toy Outlet all contributed. We really are humbled; the spirit of giving is strong within the Moreton Bay Region.”

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