A highlight of which was Haylee’s chance to hand out her first CPF Cheque as Community Princess. It was a very personal grant to hand out for many reasons, as a young woman herself working in a male-dominated industry, the donation was made to the Sarah Lloyd Scholarship Fund. This foundation encourages women in male-dominated industries to get the right mentoring, tools and licenses for a good start to a new career, and this particular donation was to assist a young woman from the Riverina in her training to be a mechanic.
The Community Princess Foundation is a portion of funds raised by all 2023 Entrants and applications are open to all small community groups in the Wagga Wagga LGA. If you know someone who can benefit from this grant please be sure to apply directly through the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest website or please contact us for any questions.
We started the month with 3 pallets of mangoes, hand picked and delivered straight to Wagga Wagga just in time to be shared with the family for Christmas. As over 60 community members rolled into the Thirsty Crow to pick up their trays, each with over 12 delicious mangoes, we got the chance to say thank you for supporting the Quest through our annual Mango fundraiser.
Throughout December, we welcomed every chance to join in the Christmas spirit - Haylee herself is particularly Christmas mad! A very humbling experience was the opportunity to assist The Salvation Army with their Christmas Appeal, which involved helping to fill Santa sacks with local parents so they were able to give gifts to their children this Christmas. The generosity of the Wagga Wagga community just never ceases to amaze us. The Christmas appeal ran for 3 days and in that time had over 8 tables of toys for children of all ages, re-stocked multiple times. Everything from board games, to beautiful handmade wooden airplanes, to books and sports equipment, there was something to make every child smile.
Kate braved the busy Marketplace just days before Christmas to help wrap gifts for donations, with the funds being raised for The Salvation Army. Both Titleholders were also lucky enough to receive invitations to the Mayor’s Christmas Party, a chance to meet so many wonderful community members, and reflect on the year that we have had, with others we had met previously in our time as Entrants. The genuine support of Mayor Dallas Tout and his beautiful wife Janine, to see all Entrants as individuals succeed, and for the positive impact of the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest on the community, does not go unnoticed and is truly appreciated.
As this year comes to a close and we welcome in 2023, Haylee and I particularly wanted to say thank you to our fellow Entrants, Ash, Marnie, Celine, Courtney and Ricki-Sue, and the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest Committee who made this year so memorable, as well as everyone who supported us through kind words, time or donations.
We cannot speak highly enough of the benefits that this experience has for not only the community but also the individual. Entrant applications are open, and we couldn’t recommend this journey enough. We are very excited to watch as the 2024 Entrants start their own journeys, and to see them grow throughout their Entrant year.
See you next month,
Kate & Haylee