College Chaplain

Thank You for Sharing the Love!

Before we dive into the fun, a huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated clothing and bedding during our Galiwin’ku clothing drives. The generosity from our community was overwhelming; both in quantity and quality.

For those unfamiliar, Galiwin’ku is a remote island community with just two small corner shops. Accessing affordable, good-quality clothing is a real challenge. Your contributions have gone a long way toward bridging that gap and sharing the abundance we enjoy here in the city.

Once we collected and boxed everything up in Melbourne, your donations made their way to Darwin, then were flown to Elcho Island with help from our amazing sister school, Shepherdson College, who covered the freight costs from Darwin to the island.

This week, a group of three Overnewton teachers and ten students (Years 8–10) travelled to the island for our annual cultural exchange program. You might remember the Shepherdson students visiting us back in May.

Our trip coincided with the school’s beloved annual Galiwin’ku Fete, themed "Under the Sea" this year a colourful celebration of community, culture, and creativity.

As part of the fete, Overnewton traditionally runs a pop-up Op Shop, where your donated clothes are sold to the community at super-affordable prices ($1–$5), with 100% of proceeds going to Shepherdson College.

Our students spent hours sorting, folding, and categorising your generous donations. We had enough to run five stalls women’s wear, men’s, boys’, girls’, and a babies/bedding stall! The response? The community loved your offerings.

Two particular stand out moments:

• A local student named LeBron found a LeBron James Lakers shirt, and his joy was electric!

• In the final 30 minutes of the fete, we made all remaining items free. The look on people’s faces? Priceless.

The event was a joyful, meaningful success, all thanks to you.

What’s Next?

We’ll be running more clothing drives next year, so please hang onto:

• Outgrown kids’ clothes

• Unused gifts

• Quality clothes you no longer wear

• Men’s and boy’s clothes - these sold out very quickly.

A good rule of thumb: “Would I be happy for my kids or myself to wear this?” If yes, it’s perfect for donation.

Thank you for helping us share kindness, build connections, and shine the Lord’s light in practical, powerful ways.