A REDLANDS charity has appealed for community donations after receiving nearly 300 requests to help fill struggling families' school booklists.
Love and Hope Redlands has been helping families buy school booklist supplies since 2017, but has received an influx of requests this year, with COVID-19 impacting the finances of many parents.
Chairperson Adriana Kuhn said since starting the initiative, more and more requests had been made for assistance with booklists, but this year had seen unprecedented numbers of families needing assistance.
"I think we did 17 that first year. Last year we did 54," she said.
"This year we've had 289 requests."
Ms Kuhn said with the virus hampering Love and Hope Redlands' fundraising efforts this year, a GoFundMe was set up to buy items for struggling families.
"This year we're working with 11 primary state schools around the Redlands," she said.
"We're aiming to do five booklists per school, then with any more money that comes in, we can do more."
"The books aren't cheap - the lists go up by $10 or $20 every year.
"This year they're between $138 to $150 per book list, and that's just primary school - no text books, nothing like that."
Love and Hope Redlands set a fundraising goal of $15,000, about one third of what they will need to fulfil all of the requests.
"We set that goal after our first influx of requests, then we got bombarded after that," Ms Kuhn said.
"The real figure was about 43,000 but if we got $15,000 we'd be deliriously happy."
School chaplains and principals decided which students would receive the books, with families receiving their items at the end of the school year.
Ms Kuhn said it was wonderful to see the positive reactions from families.
"They've all been so grateful," she said.
"Some of the parents have said they didn't know how they were going to get through the school year.
"Now at Christmas time, they don't have to worry and it's taken a load off their mind."
Love and Hope Redlands also provides crisis relief, including food parcels and referrals to other support services.
"The love hopefully inspires hope for members of our community, especially this year," Ms Kuhn said.
To donate to help Love and Hope Redlands support struggling families, visit GoFundMe or Love and Hope Redlands' website or Facebook page.
The team is also looking for a space they can work from in order to continue to provide their services throughout the year.
If you can help, contact admin@loveandhoperedlands.com.au.
