If you noticed an unusually strange amount of purple around Church St on Friday June 7, don’t worry it wasn’t your eyes betraying you.
In countless shades of purple, the students and staff of St Augustine’s College donned lavender-like hair, clothing, accessories to fundraise for the local cancer assistance organisation The Gift Kyabram.
The Gift Kyabram is a local organisation that assists those diagnosed with cancer with financial aid, and other tailored assistance such as transport provision or mental health support.
Since it’s inception The Gift Kyabram has raised close to $1 million dollars that has been distributed to Kyabram residents facing physical, emotional and financial challenges of cancer.
The committee of the Kyabram Gift often don the dark shade of purple on their uniforms, so the significance of a Purple Day for St Augustine’s is a show of solidarity with the charity organisation.
In their sea of purple, St Augustine’s college raised $825.60 for the organisation.
Deputy principal Kylie Morrissey said the fundraiser for the Gift Kyabram is a long standing tradition for the school, and a day that students look forward to.
“We had a number of our students dress up, they really like wearing purple,” Mrs Morrissey said.
“It was a very positive occasional for a very well-known organisation in the local community.”
St Augustine’s College connection to the Gift Kyabram comes from VCE teacher, Peter Fawcett who was on the committee in 2019 to 2020.
“To be able to hold the Purple Day event and raise even just a small amount of money for the Gift - it’s a no brainer,” Mr Fawcett said.
“There’s certainly a strong history of the Purple Day at St Augs that surpasses my involvement, and we always try to put on a few events a year to raise money for the charity.
“The students love getting involved - it could be a purple ribbon or a full purple outfit - the kids love it.”