Everyone deserves a Buddy at Christmas

Christmas giving ... Burnside mum Megan Manly and her kids Josh, left, and Sam with some of the Scentsy Buddies to be delivered to sick kids at Christmas.

Burnside mum Megan Manly and her family began a generous tradition five years ago of giving toys to sick kids and it appears to have caught on.

“It started as a last minute idea in December 2015 to get some of our smaller buddies donated and take to the kids in Nambour Hospital on Christmas Day,” said Megan.

“My eldest son Joshua and I went up to deliver about 10 of them. The following year around November Josh asked me if we would do it again so the wheels were set in motion.”

The Manly’s have now expanded their generosity to include Ronald McDonald House in Brisbane, who jumped at the chance.

“Now it’s become a bit of a tradition,” said Megan.

But it wasn’t all work and no play. “We do it as a family then go and visit Santa in Myer. The boys love seeing the girls at Ronald McDonald House as they normally give them some merchandise,” Megan laughed. “And we always give the ladies working there a little Scentsy gift as well. They do an amazing job!

“On average we now take around 100 buddies each Christmas and other Scentsy consultants around SEQ have started doing their own fundraisers so we’ve been told they have enough at Christmas to last for months now.”

Megan said the goal was to find a buddy for every child and their siblings who were staying at Ronald McDonald House in Brisbane (Herston and South Brisbane - at the Children’s Hospital).

“It’s not just the kids in hospital who struggle at that time of year but also their siblings,” she said.

Megan and her Scentsy team have also joined the Sunshine Coast University Hospital Wishlist Giving Day.

“In just 5 days we managed to collect donations of 120-plus buddies and donated $500 to their Giving Day.   “We will definitely do more with SCUH for our local kids but I will continue to do the RMHC Buddy Drive each Christmas.”

A Scentsy Buddy is a soft toy that has a zippered pouch in the back and comes with a Scented Pak so they smell amazing.

“We like to get scents like eucalyptus, lavender etc for the donated ones as we find they’re comforting fragrances.”

Contact Megan on 0421 040 807 or www.scentsofsunshine.scentsy.com.au or megandmichael@bigpond.com to donate a buddy or involve your business.