Extraordinary efforts in a challenging year

Schools across Australia kicked goals for Socktober, raising money for children’s projects in Thailand and around the world.

Scan here to learn more The full‑time whistle has blown on another challenging year for schools, especially in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria, who once again showed their resilience, imagination, and selfless generosity through Catholic Mission’s Socktober program.

Despite another year in which students faced the challenges of potential or real long‑term lockdowns, 360 primary and secondary schools across Australia jumped on board, raising $170,000 for children’s projects in Thailand and around the world. Among the most committed was St Mary’s War Memorial School in West Wyalong, a country town just three hours from Canberra.

This year, the 113 students at St Mary’s War Memorial School made their own extraordinary effort. The tiny cohort of Socktober stars raised $750 for vulnerable young children in Thailand, despite the challenges brought on by recent drought and a disruptive lockdown.

“It is incredibly humbling because we have never raised anything like that before,” says Louise Daniher, Religious Education Coordinator at St Mary’s, who ran the program in the school. “We really took it on, and the campaign was a fabulous success.”

In another year punctuated by the demands of remote learning, the traditional ways of engaging with the program’s sporting elements through an event day were restricted for some. Louise says while soccer has long been a staple of her school’s engagement with Socktober, the disruption and uncertainty of the year required a little extra imagination.

“Each day, we would run remote learning sessions using the resources on the website, connecting the videos and stories to the progress we were making in our fundraising,” she says. “I was surprised at how easy it was to run and how engaged our parents were. And the kids just loved the sock puppets they got to make as an additional activity this year.”

Flexibility and optimism, Louise says, are hallmarks not only of her students but of the whole community, characteristics essential in an area that is so reliant on agriculture. “Our students have a unique perspective that is formed by life on the farm,” she says. “They are attuned to the needs of others, and they are very humble and generous.”

Louise, who also runs a farm with her husband Mark, found her students appreciated the call to look further afield and support those in even greater need.

“We put it into perspective for our students; things can be tough in this community with drought and the impact of remote learning, but we have a roof over our head, a meal on the table and school uniforms to wear each day. Some children around the world don’t have those things, and we all have a moral obligation to do what we can to support them.”

When the school surpassed their fundraising target, it provided an unexpected learning moment for the students. Louise recalls: “When we finally shared that our fundraising effort could help purchase milk for a month for the children at the Good Shepherd Sisters’ Kindergarten in Bangkok, our students were concerned about what would happen after that month.

“That’s when I was able to share with them the national fundraising amount, which was around $100,000 at that point, and I told them that we were part of a network of schools that had made such a huge impact. It was a real eye‑opener for our kids.”

The school’s online page reveals a long list of sponsors, some anonymous, but each of whom chipped in a generous contribution to the school’s overall effort. It is one of the many ways schools across Australia can approach the fundraising side of the program. “I liked that I could send the donors a personal ‘thank you’ email too,” says Louise, who was overwhelmed by the support of the local community, which has a population of only 3,000.

“It’s one of the feel‑good stories of a very challenging year,” says Catholic Mission’s National Community Engagement Officer Matt Poynting. “The story of how St Mary’s War Memorial School community embraced Socktober, despite the challenges the local community has faced in recent years, epitomises everything our program aims to achieve. It’s an inspiring example of a school acknowledging the greater need among those we are called to support. We’re grateful for the contribution St Mary’s and every Socktober school across Australia has made this year.”

Head to socktober.org.au to find out how your school can make a difference in 2022. •