Local Community Involvement
Officeworks Frankston (Vic) brings fun after
the fire at the Nepean Special School
In September 2018, the Nepean Special
School’s teepee was set alight by a group
of youths, causing irreparable damage.
It was an important central space as it was a
place of mindfulness practice and relaxation
for the students.
The Officeworks Frankston (Vic) team as well
as Adam Piotrowski (Coordinator), Natalie
Broome (Team Member), Anney Tulloch
(Coordinator) and Natalie Raso (Community
Involvement Coordinator) joined the school and
its students with a day of face painting, balloon
art and a visit from Ollie. Zoe Russo (Buyer)
and Glenn McPherson (Sales Manager
Business Specialist In Store) also arranged a
big donation of fun and exciting supplies
for the students.
The school and its students were extremely
grateful for the local support and the effort
made to spread such happiness and
excitement in such a sad time.
‘Thank you so much for sharing and spreading
joy and happiness in our school yesterday, and
for all the wonderful goodies you donated. We
thoroughly appreciate you reaching out to our
students and school. Often out of adversity
comes opportunity and having you and your
team in our school was one of the beautiful
opportunities that came out of the horror of the
arson of our tepee. Once again thank you to
you, your team and Officeworks for supporting
us at this time,’ said Carolyn Gurrier-Jones,
Principal at the Nepean Special School.
Local Community Involvement
Business Support team volunteers
with Backpack 4 VIC Kids
as foster care) with backpacks filled with key
resources to support them during the crisis.
Acting on our Strategic Objective to ‘Make a
bigger positive difference’ and support our
communities, the Business Support team
was inspired to get involved with the charity
by donating items such as stationery, as well
as volunteering to sort through items and fill
backpacks with essential resources.
The Business Support team from the East
Bentleigh Support Office has committed to
volunteering for Backpacks 4 VIC Kids this
financial year. Backpacks 4 VIC Kids is a not-
for-profit organisation located in Cranbourne,
Victoria which aims to provide children aged 0
to 18 years, placed into Out of Home care (such
Chenade Rodrigues (Business Pricing
Manager) is proud to work with the charity.
‘Items such as clothing, blankets, a torch,
stationery items, underwear and an activity
depending on their age, are packed into the
backpacks. Knowing we could help these
children during a difficult transition in their life,
was a humbling yet rewarding experience for
us,’ said Chenade.
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