I’m a proud supporter and ambassador for the Pencils Community – an amazing social enterprise that takes your used and discarded pencils, pens, crayons and other stationery items, re-bundles them and gives them to children in need in Australia and around the globe.

As you may know, I loves me a writing implement, but I am also SUPER passionate about literacy – teach a child to read and write and the world becomes theirs to impact.  So this humble but intensely powerful organisation is right up my alley.

The minute I spoke with Cindy Rochstein, founder and CEO of Pencils Community, I knew I had found a kindred soul.  Every year it breaks my heart to have to buy new stationery for my kids when they have drawers full of perfectly good stuff. And every time I travel somewhere where there are children far less fortunate than mine, who are beside themselves to own one or two pencils in their entire school life, it breaks my heart. So again, when I heard about Pencils Community, I knew I had to be involved.

I make collections at Osborne Primary School in Mt Martha and also at my own home. My kids and I have attended sorting days and I hope to do much more to help this wonderful organisation.

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 Kiva is an extraordinary international organisation fuelled by passionate people with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. They celebrate and support people looking to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.

I have been lending to female business owners through this program since 2013, and am absolutely thrilled every time I get reports on how well the people who I have lent to are doing.  It’s incredible to read the stories of these entrepreneurial people, and to appreciate how little it really takes to make a huge difference.