The leader of a boys mentoring program on the Border says newly donated camping equipment will be put to good use, after the organisation has seen significant growth during the pandemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mercy Connect has donated a new mobile camper trailer for Boys to the Bush, an organisation started in Albury that connects disadvantaged and disengaged youth with positive male role models.
BttB chief executive Adam DeMamiel said the trailer would save time and provide more creature comforts during camping programs.
"It means we can do things a lot better," he said.
"We have a place to store medications and beds that are inside for those kids who can't cope sleeping out in swags, it gives us water and storage.
"Previously we throw everything in a trailer and that's a half day exercise setting up, packing up, this has everything in it, our first aid, our cooking and utensils and all the little things like that, so we can just hook on, go set up and spend more time doing the fun stuff with the kids."
Mr DeMamiel said the trailer would also show young disengaged participants that other people and organisations in their communities cared about them.
"There's a number of ways people can support and its not just financial," he said.
"This is what [Mercy Connect] could do to support us and it's massive, so we're very excited to get this out there and give it a run."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Mercy Connect chief executive Trent Dean said it was a no brainer to support the Boys to the Bush program.
"Now more than ever it's important for organisations to support each other," he said.
"We can't do enough to meet the emerging needs in our region."
It is expected that the trailer will be used to deliver at least fifteen camps over the next twelve months, servicing more than 150 at-risk youth from the Border region.
Mr DeMamiel said throughout the pandemic BttB had increased its operations to meet a rising demand.
"Pre-COVID we had four employees full time and as of next week, we'll be close to 30 employees full time, plus another 40 or 50 casuals," he said.
Mr DeMamiel said COVID-19 gave the organisation an opportunity to reflect on what they did well - one on one mentoring.
"It's proven really popular with the kids, the caseworkers and the parents," he said.
"We're getting really good outcomes from the kids, we're pushing them into employment now, we're getting them back to school, we're re-engaging them with family.
"The demand, we'd grown fairly organically in our first few years ... we got to that stage where we were confident in what we do and we can start pushing more programs out and we targeted some really talented people to come and join us and it's just been a really natural progression since then.
"The numbers keep rising and as they rise we continue to look for people to join the team and help support kids."
Mr DeMamiel said the demand had blown him away.
"The demand for our types of services is unbelievable in every community, so we've got a strategic plan we're working on to support more kids in more locations," he said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News