Being a childcare educator is not just about educating children on their A-B-C’s for Sandy Kimmins.

It’s about opening the eyes of her students to all the good things they can offer the world with a little bit of kindness, and selflessness.

They might only be young, but the Busy Bees at Toowoomba Central students and their families have demonstrated kindness beyond their years with a new donation initiative.

The group are running a donation drive for the Domestic Violence Action Centre in Toowoomba, where they have compiled “Busy Bags” full of essentials for Christmas time, to give to those less fortunate.

Busy Bees service manager Ms Kimmins said it was important for the staff to teach their children that not all kids were as privileged as themselves, especially around the holiday period.

“We have always planned to do a drive for DVAC at Christmas time so that we can help support families in adding a little extra to their children’s Christmas stockings because often families requesting the DVAC service have very little belongings and funds,” she said.

“After plenty of collaboration with our team, we decided that is was important to give children some extra joy at Christmas bus equally necessary to support families with the transition back to school which can be quite costly.”

DVAC is a not-for-profit organisation located in Toowoomba and Ipswich who are

committed to working with communities including the surrounding districts of

Chinchilla and Warwick towards the prevention and elimination of domestic and

family violence.

Staff and families have been hard at work creating the Busy Bags, which contain the following items: a backpack, pencil case, exercise books, stationery, small toy, book, socks, towel, underwear and pyjamas.

Ms Kimmins said they had received an “overwhelming” response from the community who have put their all into the drive.

“I believe that giving to those in need can make us feel as though we are a part of something greater than just ourselves,” she said.

“At Busy Bees at Toowoomba Central we embed a culture of gratitude in all we do.”

More information about Busy Bees Early Learning Australia and their Service offerings can be found at the company website: https://www.busybees.edu.au/

Originally published as City childcare’s extraordinary act of kindness for domestic violence victims