Well everybody, it finally happened! After many months of one community collecting bikes for another, we went on a 4-hour road trip – and back - to deliver them to the children of Cherbourg. And wow, what a special day it was! We had a very early start to be at Hegarty Park in Cherbourg at 10am. Driving towards the park with a truck, a van and a Four Wheel Drive, we could already see lots, and I mean lots, of children waiting for us, and grownups as well. They cheered and ran along our vehicles. Every single child and grownup had a smile on their face. It just brought tears to my eyes. We handed out all of the bikes and had also brought some teddies, toiletries and non perishable foods, and everyone was so happy!
The people of Cherbourg can’t wait for us to come back for a general Signal Flare BBQ which we’ll do at a later date. We talked with some people to see what the biggest needs are right now, and they told us that many of the kids don’t have shoes. Like every child, they also like to play with balls, footy balls and netball balls especially, but they don’t really have any. To hear about the lack in their lives of such simple things is heart breaking… Two children in separate little chats asked me if we would come back. When I said we would, they asked me if we would bring more teddies, and I said we would indeed. So, apart from our general collection of clothes, shoes, toiletries, toys etc we will do a special call out for children’s sneakers in all sizes and also practical shoes for the grownups, all sizes. Also a call out for balls and teddies. We hope to raise some funds, too, so we can add anything that is needed but that has not been donated by the community.
We would like to thank everyone who has donated bikes, toiletries, teddies, and non perishable foods for Cherbourg. We would like to thank everyone who has kindly offered their address as drop off point for bikes. We would like to thank Impact Church who generously lend us a truck. A special big thank you to Coorparoo Secondary College and Norfolk Village State School who opened their doors for students, parents, and members of the general public to drop off donations for Cherbourg. This is a wonderful way of raising awareness with children about what a privilege it is to have something to give to less fortunate people… Without all of you, generous people, this would not have been possible. The people of Cherbourg so appreciate that we have not forgotten about them and they are so happy to feel that the community cares.
A photo says more than a thousand words, and we hope you like the photos. We will keep you informed of how we are going. Please spread the word, and watch this space.
Be safe, and meet you here next time!
