Students raise hopes

By Shaun Inguanzo
PRIMARY school students have come to the aid of five elderly people who were left destitute when they arrived at a nursing home in Dandenong earlier this year.
Scottvale Nursing Home in Dandenong received the elderly residents in October after their previous home closed down.
The five were described as arriving at the home with their only possessions the clothes they were wearing.
Grade one and two students at Lyndale Primary School in Dandenong North were touched by the story, which appeared in the Star in October, and over the following months the 120 students raised more than $400 in cash to give to the residents this Christmas.
The Dandenong RSL helped host a Christmas party at Scottvale last Friday, with the main purpose of supplying ‘bags of goodies’ including chocolates, and toiletries, to all Scottvale residents.
Dandenong RSL vice-president Don Shields, welfare committee chairman John Filmer, and general committee member Arthur Williams, who is also a resident at the home, presented the cheque of $400 to the home’s director, Janet Lawrence.
The sub-branch played a vital role in helping the residents upon their arrival to Scottvale, but Mr Filmer said he was amazed by the children’s generosity.
“I was so proud of the efforts of the kids to collect what they did,” he said.
“And when I did mention (to the residents) where the money came from about 100 people in attendance gave a huge round of applause for the kiddies.
“I’d also like to thank the Star newspaper for the original publicity on the plight of these five people, otherwise not as much would have happened.”