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We need your help. This beautiful family need your help.
Kelly Wilkinson should be alive to continue to do the job she loved so much – being a mother to her three children. This right was taken away from her, and her children and family are left reeling and devastated, picking up the pieces. In the words of Kelly’s brother in law Rhys: “It is beyond comprehension what my beautiful sister in law Kelly and her 3 amazing children endured at the hands of someone they previously loved and trusted.”
Rhys and Kelly’s sister Danielle, have taken on Kelly’s three children, aged eight, six and two, alongside their own five children who are all under 11 years old. They knew without a doubt that this is what Kelly would have wanted – her children to be in a loving family home alongside their cousins. Danielle and Rhys, of course, want this too.
It now means however, that they will have eight children in the home. Eight children who need to be nurtured, kept safe, educated and cared for until adulthood. This is an enormous undertaking and an enormous cost that we, as a community, can help with.
Danielle and Rhys are incredibly kind, warm and loving. The love and support they will provide these children is immeasurable. They feel uncomfortable asking for anything, but there are tangible things that they need, that we can help with:
Housing: Danielle and Rhys are almost finished a home renovation that was to just fit their family of seven – now that family has grown to 10, the home and its yard are not big enough to sustain them all. The children need space, room indoors and outdoors to roam and play in, space for privacy when needed. Their current home does not allow for that. We are appealing to anyone who can assist with building/finding/funding a forever home that will allow the children to grow through their childhood and teenage years, their secure and safe place, their home base. We have partnered with the team at Top 100 Women to ensure there are experts in this space working on this directly. If you can help, please contact Tamika Smith at info@top100women.com.au.
Car: Transporting eight children around means they need a people mover, that will allow the family of 10 to safely travel together. Rhys will need to return to work, transporting in two cars is not a long term option as Danielle will need to transport the children on her own.
Education: To ensure as little disruption to the children as possible, and to make the commute easier for Danielle and Rhys, they would like for the children to all be at the same primary school. This comes at a price – at one stage they will have five children at the one time in the one school.
Groceries: Feeding eight growing children for the years to come is a daunting thought for most people… Danielle and Rhys are no exception. The three smallest children are in nappies. To anyone who has raised or is currently raising any number of children, you know how expensive the weekly shop can be.
Future planning: Eight birthdays per year, eight Christmas stockings and Easter bonnets… what a relief it would be to have some gift cards/vouchers that Danielle and Rhys can put away for the years to come to help with these specific high-cost times and take away some of the stress.
We have already had some wonderful people reach out with offers to help with toys, clothes, shoes and beds. This is a wonderful gesture, and is very much appreciated. Kelly’s children have access to all of their possessions, these were not destroyed. So they still have their own familiar and favourite things. What keeps us all up at night is how they will continue to replace these things as the children grow and their needs change.
If you would like to donate directly to any of the needs above, please contact us at mate@griffith.edu.au.
Please visit this link to donate directly to the Go Fund Me page – the money collected through Go Fund Me will contribute to the ongoing costs of running a home and caring for the children – petrol, rates, electricity, water, daycare, school items and excursions, and other day to day expenses.
As effective bystanders, our aim is to prevent violence. When we are successful, we won’t need to do this anymore. Until then, it is our responsibility to support the people who are left behind. This is 100% preventable. It breaks our hearts to know we failed you Kelly. We will NOT fail your children. We will continue to do this work, through the heartbreak, because you deserved a life free from violence. Because your children deserved to be raised by their mother. Because as a community, we can do better.
#besomeonewhodoessomething
If you or anyone you know needs help, please visit this link for a list of support services.
