Michaela Meade
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A simple question from a child has sparked a fundraising campaign at a Mernda child care centre.
Maples Early Learning Centre is raising money for charity FightMND after the grandmother of one of the centre’s children died as a result of motor neurone disease (MND) last year.
Maples assistant director Hayley George said the centre decided to host a fundraiser in honour of grandmother Wendy following a chat with the children.
“After discussions with the children, one child asked why can’t we just give them money to make a medicine,” Ms George said.
“As a group we decided to try and raise $10,000 for the FightMND campaign.
“We hope to make this an annual event as community connections are such a big part of the Maples philosophy.
“Most importantly we want to continue to help FightMND.”
FightMND is a charity founded in 2014 aiming to find effective treatments and a cure for MND. The disease causes the nerve cells controlling the muscles in the body to fail to work normally and eventually die.
Ms George said the community is invited to attend their official fundraising event on Thursday, July 17.
“Educators will be dunked in the ice tank, [and there will be] a sausage sizzle, CFA fire truck visit and market stalls with all proceeds going straight to our target of $10,000,” she said.
“We are also still selling the FightMND Beanies so if you still need to get yours, please feel free to come down to the centre and purchase one today.”
The centre has raised over $4000 so far, and are using the hashtag #inmemoryofnanawendy for their campaign.
Details: hub.fightmnd.org.au/diy-big-freeze/maples-early-learning
