Live Below the Line Challenge

This May, St Margaret’s Senior Students Jessica Bourke, Leah Macdonald, Victoria Morrison, Naomi Drego, Clare McCurdy, Ria Gulshan, Jamilla Francis and Ainsley Somers, along with thousands of Australians, participated in the annual Oaktree Foundation Live Below the Line Challenge. This entailed eating on just $2 a day for five days – the equivalent to the Australian poverty line. Needless to say this was a quite a challenge. By day 5, the girls were certainly glad to return to their regular eating habits. However, this feeling came with the realisation that there are so many people who view food as a means to survive and they cannot just go back to comfort food as we can. The lack of food enabled the girls to truly understand the limitations that come from a lack of food; hindering their concentration and general day-to-day energy levels. The opportunity proved to be a rewarding one for the students involved, and they encourage more students to take up the challenge next year. Together through sponsorship of family and friends they raised over $3000 for the Oaktree Foundation.

Jamilla Francis and Ria Gulshan, Social Service Captains