Soy Life Community Fund

In 2006 and 2007, the Soy Life Community Fund gave away $80,000 to 16 community minded groups throughout Australia. From new bike tracks to school gardens, we were proud to support local community projects and found it hard to choose the winners from the hundreds of entries we received. Find out about each group’s project below.

Sadly, we can’t continue the Soy Life Community Fund this year, but maybe it’ll return one day! You can still help out local communities by sending in your recipes.

Community Fund Winners

Glengarry CottageGlengarry Cottage

Glengarry Cottage used its $5000 grant to build a permaculture garden within its grounds, to teach the local community about sustainable gardening. The 10-week construction of the garden began in September 2007, and it is now maintained by volunteer groups and community members who visit the centre for educational workshops.
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Eumemmerring Primary SchoolEumemmerring Primary School

This school put the money from the Soy Life Community Fund towards a much-needed upgrade of its library, which had not been renovated since it was first built in 1976. The money provided new shelves, a fresh coat of paint for the walls and additional furniture to make the library more inviting to pupils, encouraging them to come in and read.
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Flying Fruit Circus SchoolFlying Fruit Fly Circus School

The Flying Fruit Fly Circus School collected the 50 barcodes needed to apply to the Soy Life Community Fund by holding a Soy Life smoothie drive – a delicious and creative way to get their project in the running for the cash award! The money was put towards a new Community Kitchen Garden on the school grounds. With the help of their parents and grandparents, the school’s students held working bees to install the new garden and watering system.
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Coleambally Golf Club

Located in the small farming town of Coleambally, the golf club put its $5000 from the Soy Life Community Fund towards a new rota-slasher to help maintain its grounds. The club had previously relied on second-hand machinery and the dedication of volunteers, for the upkeep of its sand greens. The club was nominated as recognition of the important role it played within the close-knit community, particularly during the difficult times of drought. The new rota-slasher was used for the first time right before the annual Golf Tournament in 2007. All reports suggested the course had never looked better!
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Village SchoolVillage School

Village School in Croydon, Victoria was the fifth recipient of the Soy Life Community Fund’s $5000 grant. The school used the money to help upgrade its animal farm, which is home to a variety of animals including goats, geese, chickens, guinea pigs, mice, ponies and lizards – all cared for by the students. The upgrade included building new fences, putting in suitable feed plants, building hen, goose and goat shelters, and installing visitor facilities.
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Federal Community Centre

The $5000 Soy Life cash grant was awarded to this centre’s public art development program, Art in the Park, and put towards a name mosaic for the park’s entrance. Community members and volunteers tirelessly devoted more than 600 hours of their time to the project during 10 weeks. The Art in the Park program will be officially opened in November 2008 by the Byron Shire Mayor at the Annual Park Party.
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Tripple U FMTriple U FM

Shoalhaven Community Radio Station, Triple U FM, in New South Wales was announced as the seventh winner of the Soy Life Community Fund. The group used the $5000 to buy laptop computers and broadcast quality microphones for home-bound, disabled and disadvantaged members of the community who want to produce their own radio programs. Dubbed the ‘Travelling Radio Project’, the program is to be extended to nursing homes so residents can record their history and have it broadcast on Triple U FM.
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Millwarra Primary SchoolMillwarra Primary School

Doing its part to help combat childhood obesity and bolster healthy eating habits, Millwarra Primary School used the $5000 from the Soy Life Community Fund to run the ‘Kids & Fruit Program’. Designed to educate children on the importance of establishing healthy eating habits at an early age, the program provides the school’s 150 pupils with fresh fruit three times a week throughout the year. Local greengrocers and orchards now deliver boxes of mixed fruit to the school on a weekly basis.
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Appin HallAppin Hall Children's Foundation

Operating on a 108-acre site in the highlands of North West Tasmania, Appin Hall Children’s Foundation is a respite centre that aims to provide relief from poverty, disability, sickness and suffering for up to 13 children and carers at any one time. The money from the Soy Life Community Fund was used to buy a large in-ground trampoline and a collection of new garden tools, hand implements and a wheelbarrow for children and volunteers to use in the vegetable and flower gardens. Appin Hall was nominated for the fund by 75-year-old local resident, Bobbie Arnold. Ms Arnold had personally collected the 50 Soy Life barcodes required for entry over three months.
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St Bernadettes primary SchoolSt Bernadette's Primary School

This school used the money from Soy Life Community Fund to buy sporting equipment, from balance beams and tunnels to cricket sets and soccer balls, as part of its Get Physical program, encouraging children to participate in a variety of sporting activities. Physical Education is a key learning area at the school, which is dedicated to making the required 120 minutes per week of PE as interesting and enjoyable as possible for its pupils. Families within the school community were quick to respond to the call-out for the 50 Soy Life product barcodes required for entry.
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Toogoom Linus ProjectToogoom Linus Project

This community project creates individually crafted comfort quilts for terminally and seriously ill children in Queensland. The group used the $5000 from the Soy Life Community Fund to buy an industrial strength sewing machine for its quilting frame. The new machine has ensured the group can continue to produce about 450 quilts each year.
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Parklands Community PreschoolParklands Community Preschool

The preschool put the money from the Soy Life Community Fund towards installing a 930-watt, six-panel solar system as part of its goal to become as environmentally sustainable as possible, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At a hefty $13,900, the cost of installing a solar panel system does not come cheap, even after a government rebate of $7440. The money from Soy Life was a welcome contribution.
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Le Fevre Peninsula Primary SchoolLe Fevre Peninsula Primary School

The school used the $5000 grant from Soy Life to create an organic garden, designed to teach pupils and families in the Port Adelaide and Port River community how to grow their own food for a whole year. Filled with fruit trees, indigenous plants and vegetables, the environmentally friendly garden, is made out of recycled materials, watered with water from rainwater tanks and fertilised with compost from the resident worm farm.
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St Joseph’s Parents and Friends AssociationSt Joseph’s Parents and Friends Association

With the money from Soy Life, this association bought catering equipment, such as crockery, cutlery, a soup kettle and a pie warmer, since it did not previously have any canteen facilities. Due to its isolated location in Rosebery, Tasmania, catering companies have to travel at least 350km to make a delivery, making events requiring catering both difficult and costly to run. The equipment will also be made available for other groups in the area to use, so the whole community can benefit.
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Mirboo North Creative Village GroupMirboo North Creative Village Group

This Victorian group spent the money from Soy Life installing and upgrading a number of walking paths and bike trails in and around Baromi Park, situated in the heart of the Mirboo North township. The upgrade has made the park more accessible to all groups of people including the disabled, the elderly, cyclists and young families who want to exercise safely and use the park’s facilities. Members of the community donated their time to help complete the path upgrade.

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Woodend Childrens ParkWoodend Children’s Park

Woodend Children’s Park was the Community Fund's sixteenth (and final!) winner. The community is putting the $5,000 cash grant from Soy Life toward creating an accessible, inspiring playground and community park in Woodend, Victoria, engaging people of all ages to participate in recreation, socialisation and play. At present, Woodend’s 1,500 families have to leave Woodend and travel 15-20km to find an appropriate play environment for their children. The park development will provide endless benefits for the community; from strengthening friendships and the sense of social support among town folk, to encouraging greater activity and attempting to offset rising obesity rates

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