As of December 22 we have received over 600 cards.
The cards will be taken to the inpatient mental health units in time for Christmas and will also be shared with residents at the Community Care Unit, Dual Diagnosis Unit, PARC and YPARC.
A special thanks goes to the following schools and community organisations: Camp Hill Primary School, Kangaroo Flat Primary School, St Liborius Primary School, St Therese’s Primary School, ESL TAFE Program, Scope Disability Services, Country Women’s Association and the Bendigo Writer’s Club.
We would also like to thank the following organisations for hosting our letterboxes: Bendigo, Eaglehawk and Kangaroo Flat Library, Bendigo Neighbourhood Hub,Bendigo TAFE Library, Long Gully Neighbourhood Centre, 8 Olinda Street Centre, The Good Loaf Café at Monash University and The Old Church on the Hill.
Together we have shown how much this community cares.
The December Cards Project was originally known as ‘December letters’. It was started in the US in 2018 by sisters Jessica Lowell Mason and Melissa Bennet: The December Letters Project - Madwomen in the attic (madintheattic.org)
It was brought to Australia in 2019 by mental health advocate Indigo Daya, and more than 900 handwritten cards were delivered to people in psychiatric units across the country that year: The Christmas cards bringing light to Australians during their darkest days - ABC News.
In 2020 Heidi Everett, a Melbourne artist and mental health arts advocate, brought it to the Austin psychiatric unit with support from the Banyule City Council: December Cards (heidieverett.com.au)
In 2021 we ran the project in Bendigo for the first time and received 400 cards. Cards a show of Christmas compassion - Bendigo Times (timesnewsgroup.com.au).
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