A tea party for young and old

Forty Year Eight students from Reddam House School in Sydney’s east woke up early last Friday to bake scones for the elderly.

Fresh from the oven, the steaming batches were delivered to SummitCare Rankwick aged care home and shared between the residents and schoolchildren.

Some of the students played the piano and sang for their hosts, while others sat down for a good old-fashioned chat.

Scones for Good is part of the Kids Giving Back movement, which was started two years ago by Sydney mothers Carole Schlessinger and Ruth Tofler-Riesel.

The two friends share a belief that you can never be too young to start helping those less fortunate.

They are now fast tracking to create the “the next generation of generosity,” as Ms Schlessinger calls it.

“We’ve had over 2000 children volunteer in our different programs for a range of charities, from asylum seeker centres to aged care facilities,” Ms Schlessinger said.

She said the volunteer programs give the children a sense of achievement that can’t be matched with a gold coin donation.

“It’s all very well to give money but this is about hand-on experiences.”

Ms Tofler-Riesel said the residents were glowing after the morning’s interactions.

“One man who’d been lying in bed for a long while was moved to tears when a thirteen year old girl came up to him,” she said.

“He took her hand and kissed it, he was so happy.

“It’s the joy of having someone young smile at you and take an interest in you.”

Image: The dough cut-outs ready for baking. CONTRIBUTED.