Madeleine bookmarks the importance of Christmas giving

One of Berry Street’s newest supporters, 11-year-old Madeleine, is small but mighty!

Madeleine recently raised money to help provide Christmas gifts to children and young people in our care who have experienced abuse and neglect.

She chose Berry Street as she wanted to support a charity that cares for children and also liked the idea of being able to pick items from our virtual Christmas gift catalogue for children in our care.

“I thought I could raise money for a charity, and I looked online and found Berry Street. I read about them and realised that these kids were struggling, and I wanted to help them out. I decided to make bookmarks for people to collect donations,” said Madeleine.

To fundraise, Madeleine made personalised bookmarks for her friends and family members – they could choose their background and ribbon colour, font type, a cute image and more! In return for a bookmark, Madeleine collected donations for Berry Street.

“My friends and family enjoyed designing their own bookmarks and I had a lot of fun making them!” said Madeleine.

Thanks to Madeleine's creativity and the generosity of her loved ones, $350 was raised to buy Christmas gifts for children and young people who otherwise may not have received one.

Madeleine’s approach to purchasing Christmas gifts through our online gift catalogue was guided by what items are needed the most by children in our care.

Madeleine’s Berry Street Christmas shopping list included:

• Bundle of 5 Pyjamas and Soft Toys ($200)
• Something for Santa x 3 ($105/$35 each)
• Play time: Toys and Games ($30)
• Ready for School: Lunchbox and Drink Bottle ($15)

“I’m so proud of Madeleine for coming up with this idea herself, she showed a lot of initiative and it’s really lovely that she wanted to do it,” said Madeleine’s mum, Lena.

Lena and her family believe in embedding charitable giving into their Christmas traditions – often gifting donations to charities, including Berry Street, on behalf of their children.

Berry Street is lucky to benefit from the kindness and generosity of other young children, just like Madeleine. We love to read why they choose to support us! Here are a few of our favourites:

“My child has saved some pocket money in her 'give jar' all year to donate to those less fortunate – this is a Christmas tradition.”

“My daughter has a school friend who is assisted by Berry Street. It was her request that we support your charity this year.”

“My 8-year-old son wanted to buy some Christmas gifts and share his love of Christmas.”

Thank you to Madeleine and our generous supporters. If you’d like to support children and young people in care this Christmas, please visit our online gift catalogue.

*Model posed for photo.