I wish to take this opportunity to formally acknowledge and thank the Friends of EAC for their incredible work and support of the College. Each year the Friends of EAC make a wonderful contribution to building community and raising funds to provide additional resources for the benefit of all the students. On Tuesday evening, the Friends of EAC held their Annual General Meeting and took time to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions that the group has made over the last 12 months. Despite the challenges of COVID19 restrictions and long periods of lockdown, the work of Friends continued.

Without doubt, the highlight of the EAC social calendar for 2021 was the very successful Friends run event, a ‘Grand Affair’. The 1920’s themed event held at Fenwick House in Ballina was a raging success. After 18 months of lockdowns and restrictions, the timing of the event was simply perfect and presented a fantastic opportunity for people to come together, reconnect, have fun and raise funds to support the purchase and installation of audio visual equipment in the multi purpose centre. It was an incredibly successful evening and raised over $24,000. 

Lots of parents and friends were involved in the event and contributed in various ways to its success but it would be remiss of me not to mention and thank President Jodie Hayter and Treasurer Vanessa Hansen for the hours of planning and preparation that they put into creating and marketing the event. There was a huge buzz in the community after the event and it again highlighted the importance of the role of Friends of EAC in not only fund raising but also friend raising. I know we are all looking forward to the next Friends social gathering.

Thanks also to Janet Hale, who continues to donate her time so generously in order to keep the Second Hand Uniform Pool operating. It provides a steady stream of income to Friends and a much needed service to the families of EAC.

In March this year, our region was ravaged by two major flood events. The devastation and loss are enormous and the families of more than 90 EAC students along with 16 staff members were severely impacted by flooding. The response from the EAC community has been outstanding, with the Friends of EAC leading the way in terms of the immediate response with food, clothing, school supplies and offers of support to help families with the recovery and rebuilding process. I want to thank all involved with Friends for the compassionate, generous and practical response to the situation. The donation of almost $30,000 raised by the Colour Run initiative will provide further help to those families in need and highlights once again that the Friends of EAC are very much connected to serving and supporting the students and families of the College. The College is really blessed to have such generous and committed people in our community.

The work of Friends can only continue with the commitment and support of generous, skilled and enthusiastic members. As part of the AGM a new committee are elected and I am so grateful to the following people for stepping up to take an active role in the leadership of Friends.

Treasurer: Vanessa Hansen

Secretary: Julie Billebault

Committee: Dani Sarina, Janelle Wilson, Janet Hale, Elizabeth Dwyer, Jodie Hayter, Gretchen Mercer, Sarah Christensen and Denise Randall

As you can see, we are still looking for a President. I know that stepping up to a role like this may seem daunting, however, Friends is a very collegial organisation and everyone supports each other with the leadership roles and the running of events. There are 8 meetings a year and no expectation that the President will be involved in every event. If you want to know more about the role, please email friends@eac.nsw.edu.au and someone from the committee will get in touch.

We look forward to another wonderful year of friendship, fun and fundraising!