Teddy bears show students we care

SIFE students spread hope with bears

Hattonvale State School have joined forces with USQ Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) students to spread a little hope to school children living in flood ravaged Grantham.

The SIFE students approached the Hattonvale State School to become involved in their ‘Bears of Hope Initiative’ which saw each child at Grantham State School receive a white bear with a positive hand-written message of hope from the Hattonvale students.

USQ Professor Marie Kavanagh who is also the Northern Regional Convenor for SIFE Australia said the USQ SIFE team was to be congratulated for their energy and initiative.

'The bears were presented at Grantham State School’s assembly by USQ student Bridgit Akmacic, Hattonvale Vice-Principal Renee Heathwood and Hattonvale student representatives,' Professor Kavanagh said.

'There was real joy on the faces of the students receiving the bears,' Professor Kavanagh said.

'It meant so much to these children to know that the community cares about what happened there.'

Professor Kavanagh said the SIFE students were currently organising more bears to be sent to Japanese students who fell victim to the devastating tsunami earlier this year.

'The SIFE team are working with schools from the Springfield and Toowoomba areas to have children write messages of hope for the Japanese children.

'It may only be a small token, but to some of those children, a gift such as this from students in Australia could be the only glimmer of hope they see when surrounded by so much tragedy.

'It also fosters a sense of community by encouraging children to reach out to others needing support anywhere in our world.'

SIFE is a student run organisation which operates in Universities throughout Australia and the world.

'The USQ SIFE team are involved in several different programs including the Year 4 to 7 ‘Our Space A Better Place Project’ aimed at empowering school students to become involved in protecting the environment and a financial literacy program for high school students called ‘Cash2Gro’ project.

'The students are always looking for new ways to become involved in the community so for more information go to the USQ SIFE website at or email ceo@sifespringfield.com'.
Contact Details:
Jo-Ann Sparrow, USQ Media, +61 7 3470 4119 or 0438 309 096