We were delighted to hear about the socially-minded entrepreneurial endeavours of Year 7 student Charli, and her brother William in Year 5, over the Labour Day long weekend. Together they used their initiative and generosity of spirit to raise $1,000 which they donated to the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH).
The siblings, whose family live near Albert Park, developed their fundraising idea last year when they realised the potential to leverage the increased foot traffic to their neighborhood due to the nearby Melbourne Grand Prix.
Charli and William with their friends at the stall
“We live near the Grand Prix track and we noticed that a lot of people flow through the area over the weekend, and last year we had the idea to sell things to make money,” said William.
“Last year we only decided on the day to run the stall and we were quite surprised at how much money we made, and we decided to donate the money we raised to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal,” said Charli.
“We are really happy with our stall and we think that the donation will be helpful.” William, Year 5
This year, the students were more organised, planning their stall for weeks in the lead up to the weekend.
“Along with some family friends who live nearby, we set up the stall and over two days we sold brownies, honey joys, bottles of water and cans of coke,” said William.
“At the start, we had only made brownies and on the first day we realised that we wouldn’t have enough as the stall was so busy and we needed more to sell,” said Charli. “It was great, people were donating without even buying anything, and some American people even gave us American dollars!”
The stall was a success, with the siblings and their friends raising $1,000 which they chose to donate to the Royal Children’s Hospital again this year.
The students sold honey joys, brownies, water bottles and cans of coke.
“We chose to donate to the Royal Children’s Hospital because of our older brother, Josh,” said Charli. “Josh has a disability which causes him to have seizures, and he’s spent quite a bit of time at the Royal Children’s Hospital.”
The siblings plan to hold the stall again next year and are thinking about how they can be even more successful.
We are extremely proud of Charli and William. Their efforts are a shining example of harnessing the positive power of community, and we look forward to seeing them back running their stall next year.
