Saturday the 5th of October, the last lot of shipping cartons left Frenchs Forest Baptist Church and will be packed into the shipping container over the next few days.

Thanks to all who came and helped sort, wrap and pack the gifts. There were people from the community who continued to come to help throughout the entire two weeks. A group of ladies from an Indian Orthodox church in Epping came along to help. Corporate groups from NAB, CBA, SalesForce and Marsh also came and gave their time.

The packing was a lot of fun and many were truly amazed and very encouraged at the work being done in Sri Lanka through Network Heaven. Many realised the complexity and vastness of the administrative detail that needed to match up and be completed for the cartons to arrive correctly. Individual names of children with ages were marked off and had to be packed in the appropriate cartons. It took days to make sure every child received their gift at their location. It was a spectacular feat that took many hands to get right.

There were some last minute donations of 2,000 pens, which are precious for students and their parents in Sri Lanka. We also had a huge load of obsolete school uniforms that are going to bless around 2,500 children at least. People were also amazed by the beautiful girls dresses made by ladies in the community and the love that had gone into sewing them.

Winsome Menzies, a senior citizen about to turn 90, deserves special mention for her efforts in sewing at least 1,000 library bags for the children and 200 marble bags. Thank you also to Terrey Cooke, from The Peninsula Senior Citizens toy-repairer at Ingleside, who provided most of the toys. There were at least 150 beautifully and modestly dressed barbie dolls which will be a great gift for many young girls as well as many soft toys and cars for the boys.

Thank you to everyone who gave 110% of their time and energy and love for those in need. Your efforts are appreciated and do not go unnoticed. So many people did different things to make the shipment a success, from collecting goods all through the year to setting up tables and bringing stored goods from other locations. It took 6 men and 1 lady an entire day to set up the hall for the first sorting day. Thank you to those who helped making up and labeling the cartons appropriately to ensure the gifts reached the correct child from at least 50 different locations within 18 different local partners. Thank you for those who helped remove packaging from the building site, and for corporate groups who came with fresh energy in the second week to really get the goods moving and complete the planned gifts.

What a privilege it is to help those in need and bless others. God bless you all for your contribution. Until we meet again in our 20th year!

Anne