Grants for Canterbury kids as charity road rally kicks off

Gold-heart grants for Canterbury kids as charity road rally kicks off

Two talented young Canterbury dancers and a group of families with deaf children accepted cheques from Variety – The Children’s Charity last night, to celebrate the kick-off of a charity road run, The Variety Great Southern Dash.

The participants have all paid a hefty donation to the charity, which helps give Kiwi kids a hand-up.

Kids like Toby Matthews, aged nine. Toby is deaf, and his dad, Logan, is president of the Canterbury Parents of Deaf Children group, which provides sign-language lessons for affected families.

Such lessons don’t come cheap, and often they’re at night classes, which doesn't suit families with young children.

Hence the application to Variety, and a $700 cheque.

“We have about 50 families, with children ranging from babies up to age 21, and the whole family wants to be able to communicate with a child who can’t hear them. Night schools just don’t work for us, so these Saturday classes are perfect. We just have to keep finding the funding.”

The kids clearly appreciated it, they were making friends with the assorted Dashers, who’ve come from as far afield as Auckland, Tauranga – and Canterbury.

Also receiving a cheque was Chloe Parker, age 10. She has competed successfully in dance contests in Australia and aspires to be a ballerina. Her $5000 Gold Heart Scholarship will go toward tuition, costumes and out-of-town costs.

And finally Emily Ayas, aged 13 and from Somerfield/Cashmere, received her $2000 Gold Heart Scholarship from a previous recipient, Mark Wilson, who applied to help him go to the Paralympics to represent NZ. Emily hopes to one day run a dance school, and though her family was badly affected by the 2011 earthquake, she still trains 18 hours a week.

The Dash puts teams into cars each worth under $3000, decorated to suit the team theme. They’ll head off to Ashburton on Friday morning for a working bee at Longbeach School, then spend the weekend touring the central south island via Cardrona and Naseby, competing to see who can raise most money for Kiwi kids through Variety – The Children’s Charity.

ENDS

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