In June 2017, Sarah, the CEO and co-founder of Box For Monkeys, slept out for the annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout. Sarah had never had any involvement with Vinnies before and was blown away by the incredible good works they do and the staggering number of people in need that they help. Being a mother of three, she was devastated to hear that children are the largest groups of Australians experiencing homelessness. Sarah was determined to help the Vinnies kids and she met with Vinnies a number of times to see where Box For Monkeys could help the kids in crisis accommodation, refugees and in disadvantaged families. The founding philosophy for Box For Monkeys has always been to help kids and it was only natural that we would get involved in helping kids that may otherwise be overlooked.
WE ARE EXCITED TO PARTNER WITH VINNIES TO HELP LITTLE MONKEYS EVERYWHERE
“Children are the largest groups of Australians experiencing homelessness”.
We worked for months to create items that Vinnies highlighted as essential items to support children with their on-going development, like pre-school and back to school bags. The children receiving these bags are experiencing disadvantage, poverty and homelessness. Whilst many may be living safely in a refuge or a family homeless service, they are likely to start school in a new area, with new people with only donated clothes. This incentive will provide kids with their very own brand new school bag with everything they need inside it. It’s a little reprieve from a stressful situation. We created the pre-school bags to help get the kids ready for that all important transition to school. We want kids to thrive in their education, and not feel marginalised in the classroom by knowing the alphabet, their numbers, having fine motor skills and be able to sit through a story are a few key areas. Often when families are experiencing crisis getting through each day is the main goal not what your child is learning. Each box and bag has been created with the child and their needs in mind.
“The children receiving these bags are experiencing disadvantage, poverty and homelessness”