By Justin RouillonThursday 7 Apr 202296five BreakfastInspirational StoriesReading Time: 2 minutes
When Matt Knight visited his hometown of Lismore following the first round of flooding that the town received, he knew he wanted to make a long term difference to kids who’d lost everything in the record breaking floodwaters.
The Brisbane dad still has immediate and extended family in and around Lismore, and said the flooding and cleanup efforts had hit his niece and nephew especially hard.
“They had been helping with the clean up in the mud for days and were just so tired of it,” Matt told 96five’s Ken and Nicky.
Matt’s son Ellis said that seeing the mud everywhere in his cousin’s and grandparents town was particularly difficult.
“It was so hard on everyone to clean all the mud and rubbish up, only for it to happen again,” said Ellis.
To help kids recover from the devastating floods Matt and Ellis have started up Lismore Draws, and have been collecting art supplies to support & help kids get through this challenging season.
Matt said that they were inspired by their own challenges of the past few years when the pair would draw and take online art classes to cope with Covid lockdowns.
“We found that drawing was just really relaxing and took our minds off things, so that’s what we hope these art packs will do for the kids in Lismore.”
Specifically Matt and Ellis are seeking donations of art diaries, drawing pads, textas, markers, Sharpies, crayons, pencils and Blue-Tac.
“We’ve included Blue-Tac so that kids can display their artworks wherever they’re staying,” said Matt. “We’re also encouraging kids to take photos of their art and send them to us so we can create an online art gallery through social media.”
The Knights are also hopeful to bring artists into Lismore to paint and for art lessons.
If you’d like to make a donation of art supplies to help flood affected kids you can get in touch with Lismore Draws via their Facebook or Instagram pages. There’s also recommendations about specific products as well as ideas to get you started for a shopping trip.
You can also drop off your donations to the 96five studios at 81 Mina Parade Alderley, on business days between 9am and 4:30pm.
Listen to the full interview with Matt and Ellis in the audio player above.