Big-hearted young fundraiser

St Lucy's School Wahroonga
Courageous. Generous. Selfless.

Nine-year-old Ava has a deep-rooted desire to be inclusive and lives by the motto "No one gets left behind." She supports young people in her community in a number of ways.

For example, she reaches out to younger children who feel insecure at school, and she is forever raising funds and donating her pocket money and toys to good causes.

Ava is particularly passionate about supporting the children with learning disabilities and special needs who attend St Lucy’s School. One of those children is Oliver, Ava’s close friend. Ava's current fundraising project is to help St Lucy's build wheelchair-friendly vegetable gardens.

Here is Ava's story:
"I get to see the kids at St Lucy's all the time. I wanted to do some fundraising for St Lucy's, so I asked some of the nice ladies there what I could do. One of the things they are trying to build is 16 raised veggie gardens for the children to learn how to grow foods and plants. The gardens will also be educational in other ways for them as they are sensory. The children will enjoy not just watching the flowers and vegetables grow, but they will be able to smell and feel and taste them too!"

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. St Lucy's School will use its grant to build, stock and maintain the 16 gardens.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here