QFES takes action against domestic and family violence
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES), in partnership with not-for-profit organisations Zephyr Education and the Red Rose Foundation, is supporting those affected by domestic and family violence, and encouraging conversations about this important issue.
QFES has partnered with Zephyr Education to provide new lunchboxes for children living in domestic and family violence shelters. QFES staff and volunteers across the state donated approximately 800 fun and colourful lunchboxes this year, far exceeding their previous donation of 250 lunchboxes in 2019.
Zephyr works with 88 shelters in Queensland, supporting services from the Gold Coast to Weipa and west to Mount Isa. The lunchboxes will bring joy to children whose education has been disrupted by domestic and family violence. The start of the school year can be especially stressful for children living in refuges, but having a new lunchbox to show their friends at the playground will help them feel excited about going back to school.
QFES also partnered with the Red Rose Foundation to unveil a new red bench at the Kedron Park Emergency Services Complex in December 2019.
The Red Rose Foundation launched the Red Bench project in 2019, painting park benches around the country red as a permanent reminder of lives affected by domestic and family violence and the need to keep addressing this important issue.
QFES’s red bench offers a place for people to sit and reflect on how they can support those they know who are affected by domestic and family violence.
Top image: Diane Mangan, Chairperson of the Red Rose Foundation, at the official unveiling of the red bench with Greg Leach, Commissioner of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.
Bottom image: Lunchboxes donated to Zephyr Education.