Roxby Downs Area School raises $30,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service
When Principal Annette Williams suggested the school move away from fundraising for itself this year to teach students about ‘looking outward’, raising money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service was an obvious choice for the outback school.
As country people know, preserving community services calls for the active backing and support of locals. With this year’s challenge of “looking beyond ourselves” and a focus on giving back to the community, the enthusiastic bunch of kids from Roxby, with help from their mates in Woomera and Andamooka, proved what dynamic and innovative communities can do.
With a Colour Run Fundraiser organised, the school community enlisted the support of Roxby Downs businesses including BHP, Roxby Hydraulics, RoxFM, Complete Pipe Systems, and more, to jump on board as sponsors for the event.
The added incentive of ‘Slime a teacher’ day, spurred the students to reach their goal. In their efforts, students showed some incredible entrepreneurship to reach their lofty $30,000 target. From selling items at home like baked goods and potted plants, kids and families flew the extra mile to help land them over the line.
For some of us, the only knowledge we have of RFDS is from the Channel Seven drama bearing the same name, or perhaps the 80’s series “The Flying Doctors”. The real Royal Flying Doctor Service is a not-for-profit organisation with equally intriguing storylines and no doubt somewhere, an equally dapper-looking “Nurse Pete Emerson”.
For the school community, RFDS is a much-needed and valued service in their lives, with many children having first-hand experience of family members or themselves, needing the help of the medics in the sky. Although receiving some government financial support, RFDS relies heavily on the power of fundraising and donations to bridge the financial gap that’s needed to keep their imperative service operating.
Every year, the RFDS assists more than 56,000 patients in South Australia and the Northern Territory – that’s one patient every 10 minutes.
From vehicle and motorbike accidents to broken bones, heart attacks, strokes, and respiratory failures, the crews are ready to rapidly respond any time of the day and night, in any emergency situation in Outback Australia.
As well as being Emergency Responders, the RFDS provide outback Community Health Services, Inter-hospital Patient Transfers, Remote Oral Health Care, Mental Health & Wellbeing services, and Education & Training.
The Roxby Downs Area School and the vibrant and generous community supporting them, have definitely done their part in helping keep the Flying Doctor in the air.
If you’d like to chip in and add to the tally, click here.
To find out more about RFDS, follow this link..
