Hello Social Butterflies,
My name is Christina Iskandar and I’m the founder of Diva Charity.
As an expat living on the island of Bali, I saw a huge need beyond all the glitz and glamour lifestyle of resorts, spas, restaurants, and the expat way of life and founded this charity in 2008.
There was a side to Bali that was suffering and with little or no government assistance, people were left to fend for themselves, hence the birth of Diva Charity.
The meaning of Diva for me is a strong, sometimes opinionated, passionate, empathist that wants to make a difference and just get the job done.
Proud to say, to date, we have raised over 500K to date for over 100 charities.
Since moving permanently back to Sydney in 2016, I have been volunteering with many homeless food projects. I saw a need in my own backyard. Living in Matraville not far from LEXO in South Maroubra. Just post covid Diva Charity set up a Food Drive for a community struggling to make ends meet.
Our food drives are home cooked meal donations which we as volunteers cook ourselves. Recently, we were lucky enough to have Wenona Girls School in North Sydney come on board. Both Sharon, Kirsten and I spent the afternoon there with the students and cooked 172 meals and 148 muffins for our drive. Happy to say this will be an ongoing project next year, every term, it will be a huge help for us indeed.
We also collect rescued produce from three different Woolworths stores and sort through what we can save and distribute on our food drives.
We have a beautiful committee of ladies including Sharon Kelly, Kirsten Johns, Kate Brennan and Sonja Parker and these beautiful souls have supported me and believed in me and play a big part in Women supporting Women and I am super grateful for their guidance.
Having recently been nominated as a Westfield local hero finalist or charity, we were so lucky to be granted $5000 and these funds will go towards purchasing a van. It will make it a whole lot easier for us to collect and distribute goods to wider communities in need.
In 2023, we supported a wonderful charity, Rice for Bali. This is run solely by a Balinese woman named Anngie Wayan, Wayan being her Balinese name. I had the pleasure of working together with Wayan on my last visit and witnessed eight homes being built in three weeks donated by our charity. All using local materials and local tradesmen.
We have raised funds for two projects being Bali Child Sponsorship and Building Homes for their community.
Sponsoring a child will give them the opportunity to attend school. Without sponsorship a lot of these kids could not attend at all. These children live in the poorest regions in the North of Bali.
It only costs $300 dollars Australian to sponsor a child for one year. This covers their fees, books, uniform, and school running costs. Kate is our Ambassador for Bali. Kate just came back last week from a visit to the villages and saw firsthand what a difference our support has made to these communities.
Rainy season has just started and if anyone’s been to Bali in the rainy season you know how much rainfall falls for four months’ straight, it’s devastating for families that live with thatched roofs or use cardboard cut outs for shelter. (Yes, cardboard cutouts) a brick home with a door and windows will set you Australians back $1500 and your donations would be appreciated!
We are excited for what 2024 holds for Diva Charity…stay tuned!
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