OUR SAY: Border solutions help nurture us all, making for a stronger community

We hear daily of the challenges that present themselves, and often it might seem that there is no way forward.

For it doesn't matter how united a community might be, or the degree of relative wealth in our society, people miss out.

Some of the more obvious examples lay within the area of disadvantage.

The loss of a job, or the cycle of family violence or difficulties in accessing support services for struggling families can create a sense of being stuck in a quagmire.

It's an issue that has been greatly exacerbated in recent times by the cost-of-living crisis.

In the midst of such challenges, it can be difficult to know what to do next.

But thankfully there are people right across our community who have applied innovative thinking to create solutions.

It is this commitment to excellence and to providing real results for real, everyday problems that has been borne out in the latest list of finalists for the renowned annual prize the Border Trust Give500 campaign.

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The Classy Kids initiative, for example, addresses that key issue of making sure disadvantaged children do not miss out on the school essentials.

It makes sure these kids don't stand out for what they don't get. And so Classy Kids makes sure these students do have a school bag, a lunch box, that they have a pair of sneakers for sport, that their uniform is the same as everyone else's.

What makes this program really standout is the flow-on effect for these kids, for it is said when the social struggles are put aside "their brain is actually more active and able to engage with the teachers".

Another finalist is Carevan's Ruffy Swags project, an especially important initiative in an era of forever-encroaching homelessness, and the Our Native Garden Nursery's Seeds on the Move project, which has created an Indigenous seed bank for the North East).

The judges of course have an unenviable job in trying to pick a winner of the major prize, but it is also one to relish given the contributions that are being made to bettering all of our lives.

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