Giving makes everyone feel warm and appreciative and it is wonderful to spread this feeling around!

WEP has decided to reduce its impact on the environment. Instead of printing and mailing hundreds of cards, we have chosen to make donations to 13 worthy causes!

Counting down, WEP Australia’s staff members have chosen 13 charities to donate a total of $650 to. Find out more about our 2011 Christmas donations each day leading up to the holidays!

13 Days to Christmas

Wishing everyone a great Christmas and all the best in 2012. I have chosen the The Lost Dogs Home this Christmas, who make a difference to the unfortunate animals who find themselves homeless throughout the year.
~ Karen

12 Days to Christmas

I chose to give my $50 to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre which I know needs financial support to provide asylum seeker families with many critical services, and especially at Christmas time the ASRC provides kids’ toys, phone cards to call home and food hampers.  It is important not to forget those who have sought Australia out as their new home but who still need to be genuinely included in Australian society.
~ Andi

11 Days to Christmas

I would like to support UNICEF and donate a Vaccine Carrier. The reason I chose UNICEF is to raise awareness of third world poverty and to highlight just how lucky kids going on exchange are. Plus it has an international flavour, which is what exchange is all about.
~ Emma

10 Days to Christmas

I’ve chosen Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) in order to support members of the Australian Sudanese community and their families who attend SAIL each week in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.  SAIL is a not-for-profit, secular organisation that provides free English support and community services to the Sudanese community. SAIL is run entirely by volunteers from 16 years of age and above, who together they act as tutors and mentors to students of all ages. SAIL is always in need of new volunteers and I encourage anyone interested to visit their website to learn about becoming involved. So, happy festive season everyone, and to all those SAILors in particular!
~ Martin

9 Days to Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. The Charity I have chosen is National Breast Cancer Foundation, their mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer through education. The programs provide woman help for today and hope for tomorrow.
~ Chantel

8 Days to Christmas

Very Special Kids provides counselling and support services to families caring for a child diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.  Following the death of a child families are supported through the bereavement support program. This donation goes towards Very Special Kids House continuing to offer respite and end-of-life care to families facing what is one of life’s most difficult challenges.
~Denise

7 Days to Christmas

This year I have chosen OZ CHILD as my charity to support.
Oz Child is an Australia independent not for profit organisation offering Australian youth and their families guidance and support to achieve their full potential. This Christmas I would like to offer my support so they can continue to do the amazing work they have been doing, because every child deserves the opportunity to succeed despite the circumstances they have been dealt.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
~ Linda

6 Days to Christmas

I have chosen Animal Liberation Victoria. You do incredible work and make incredible sacrifices. At a time when people are celebrating with family and friends, you will be nursing our sick and injured animal companions, making sure they are fed and warm, rescuing animals trembling in fear, rescuing babies that will never know their mothers and educating people about the vegan diet. There is no downtime for what you do and I hope you realise that it is not only acknowledged, but appreciated. Thank you for all you do.
~ Nikki

5 Days to Christmas

This year I’d like to have my donation to go to Médecins Sans Frontières. The goals of this organisation are:
•    To ensure the freedom to provide humanitarian assistance whenever and wherever it is needed.
•    To remain independent from political, religious and economic interests.
~ Debra

4 Days to Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I have chosen to donate to MS Australia who do an amazing job of providing support and care to people with Multiple Sclerosis, and also to their carers and families. The cause and cure of this disease remain elusive, despite world wide research. MS Australia work very hard to enhance the quality of life for people affected by MS and to give them hope for better solutions and improved treatments, and hopefully one day a cure.
~ Becky

3 Days to Christmas

I wish for my donation to go to Environment East Gippsland Inc. EEG has been working to protect East Gippsland's natural areas and wildlife for almost 30 years. They are the longest running community forest group working solely for the protection of Victoria's last and largest area of ancient forest and surrounding natural environment.
~ Judith

2 Days to Christmas

I have selected the Kipungani Schools Trust to donate to. They rebuild schools in Kenya, some of which I was able to visit in 2007, which made it a very memorable trip. The people that run the charity are passionate about education. The Kipungani Trust also sponsor scholarship students to go on to  do their secondary education.  Encouraging Kenyans to get an education is just as important as encouraging Australians to go on student exchange programs.
~ Bree

1 Day to Christmas

On behalf of all our staff I would like to extend best wishes to all involved with WEP Australia - students, host families, volunteer coordinators, international partner organisations, schools and business partners - best wishes for the festive season and good luck for 2012.  My donation goes to Mission Australia’s Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program that provides training to increase skills in speaking, listening, reading, writing and maths for a broad cross-section of Australian society. These are the types of skills that our exchange students take for granted and emanate from participation in an exchange program.  Mission Australia’s reach (early school leavers, immigrants and refugees, young people who fall through the cracks in our society) was instrumental in my choice of  charity for our 2012 Holiday Season.
~ CARLEEN WHEELER
CEO, WEP Australia

History of WEP's Holiday Donations

In 2010, WEP Australia donated $1000 to 10 charities including the Clown Doctors, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Animal Liberation Victoria, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Charity: Water, Australian Animal Protection Society, OzGreen, MS Australia, the Leukaemia Foundation and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation. Throughout the year, we continued to support Kiva, providing a total of 42 small but significant loans to individuals and groups around the world.

In 2009, WEP Australia donated $500 to Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth, a non-profit charitable organisation established to improve the health and literacy for indigenous children in remote regions in Australia.   
WEP Australia also donated $500 to Kiva, a group that distributes small loans to the working poor all over the world. In 2010, WEP Australia made a total of 38 loans to entrepreneurs working towards better lives.