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on Tuesday, August 23, 2022
For the past eight years Elaine Tod and Maureen Neal have worked tirelessly for months each year to sew clothes and gather toys to ship overseas to children in need. Each year the Uniting West Pennant Hills Mawarra residents rally the community to support the Samaritan's Purse international relief effort, Operation Christmas Child.
This provides a hands-on way for people to help children in need across the world by filling shoe boxes with toys, hygiene items, school supplies and fun gifts.
Elaine Tod, 81, said that last year, with the help of her friend Maureen and the rest of the village, that they made 100 skirts, 100 pairs of shorts, 100 pencil boxes, 20 teddies and 50 bags.
"It's wonderful, it gives me joy to the point where I feel selfish sometimes because I do it because it makes me happy," Mrs Tod said. "We do it because we enjoy it and it's lovely that we can help the children.
"Maureen's skirts are absolutely beautiful, and she works very hard and gets so much joy from doing this- just like me, we're very similar.
"When we were younger, we use to pack the boxes at the warehouse, and we would invite the grandchildren to join in - they loved it.
"But we couldn't do it without the help of the whole village. Everyone has provided a tremendous amount of material and we use the materials they give us and the donations of wool, cotton and velcro to make the clothes.
"We start about March at the warehouse and as you get nearer to the completion date you have to work very hard to get it all done. But it's all worth it. We're so grateful when we see the joy on faces of the children when they get their boxes of gifts on the video."
Elaine, who was a registered nurse before retiring, said she moved into Uniting West Pennant Hills Mawarra in 2007 after a heart condition ended her career.
"My husband and I have been here for 14 years- I love it I am so happy here. I was a registered nurse and I used to come and see patients in the village," she said.
"I then I thought to myself one day, 'when I retire, I would like to come and live here' and that's exactly what we did."
Uniting Mawarra West Pennant Hills Village Manager, Lisa Ciantar, said Maureen and Elaine helped bring the whole community together.
"I think it's a true illustration of the kind, caring community that they have there," Mrs Ciantar said. "Elaine and Maureen are always looking for ways that they can help, not only their neighbour, but the wider community.
"Elaine has health problems, but she is turning a negative to a positive. It's indicative of the type of people we have here in the village.
"Everyone chips in in some way. The creative people in the village knit something or sew something, then you have the others who will contribute with pencils or elastics, and if they can't contribute with their hands they can contribute with a donation.
"It provides an opportunity for connection as well as a shared passion and commitment for helping people that are disadvantaged or worse off than themselves.
"Throughout COVID they would always do something small to bring smiles to the faces of people in the village. If someone turned 90 in village, they sung them happy birthday on the lawn, at Christmas they left a small gift on the doorstep, or an egg at Easter or a flower on Mother's Day. It's these small gestures that make the biggest impact."
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