Brooke Harris, Junee High School Captain. Sixteen Year 12 students from Junee High School have raised more than $7000 for Dolly’s Dream, a foundation that raises awareness to prevent bullying.
After the loss of their 14-year-old daughter, Dolly, to suicide, Kate and Tick Everett founded Dolly’s Dream to start a national conversation about the impacts of bullying, depression and anxiety in young people. The foundation aims to provide support for parents and children that may be suffering with mental health issues. School captain at Junee High School, Brooke Harris said that supporting Dolly’s Dream as their charity of choice was important to the senior students.
“I thought it was relatable to us in a way,” she said. “We’re from a small rural town and so was Dolly.” Brooke proposed to support Dolly’s Dream as the 2021 Year 12 charity in her school captaincy speech earlier this year. “Every year group picks a fundraiser, and everyone thought it was a great charity to support,” she said. “It was so amazing because everyone got behind it and we ended up raising around $7000.” Although Coronavirus restrictions saw the closure of schools across New South Wales, the high schoolers continued to raise money for their chosen charity. “It was really hard because of COVID, but we tried to do a new thing every month,” Brooke explained. “We had different raffles, cake stalls and we even sold beanies.” On the 14th of May this year, Junee High School were named as first-time participants for Do It for Dolly Day where the year 12 students delivered a lesson about kindness to the rest of the student body.
Dolly’s Dream included Junee High School in their November Fundraising Roundup newsletter, which read “$7000 of funding [throughout the year is] an absolutely phenomenal effort from a small school with just 16 year 12’s.” Brooke told The Independent that she believes Dolly’s Dream is an important reminder that young people need to seek support when they are suffering with their mental health. “I don’t think that there is a lot of professional support in rural areas for teenagers,” she said. “But I also think that there are also a lot of avenues for young people to find support like talking to a family member, friend or teacher.”
A representative from Dolly’s Dream fundraising team, said that the organisation felt overwhelmed with support from such a small group of year 12 students. “We are so grateful for the support of the Year 12 students at Junee High School by making Dolly’s Dream their charity of choice and raising funds for our organisation throughout the year,” they said. “Dolly’s Dream is very happy to welcome you into a community filled with like-minded and generous people who like all of you, are committed to helping protect children and equip them with the knowledge to overcome bullying and cyber bullying. Your incredible fundraising efforts will allow us to educate parents and communities about bullying and its effect and empowering people to recognise and take action when it occurs. Thank you for putting so much time and thought into all of your activities from the cake stall to your affirmations on blue butterflies to the Easter raffle. What a phenomenal effort! We are so grateful for the difference that you have all made.”
Dolly’s Dream encourages Australians to get involved with the foundation by fundraising, donating and educating each other about the impacts bullying and cyber bullying can have on an individual. Funds raised allow the foundation to develop bullying prevention and online safety programs that can be provided to schools, families, kids and communities throughout Australia. To find out more about Dolly’s Dream and how you can get involved, you can visit dollysdream.org.au. Rebecca More