Welcome to the Christian O'Connell Show podcast. We're talking about backpacks of it, kids that we asked yesterday, could you help try and get some money to pay for 20 backpacks? For children in need right here in Melbourne, and at the moment, it's over a thousand backpacks since we started yesterday morning at 8 o'clock. I thought we'd have a quick chat here with the lady that we met at the start of the year.

We wouldn't know.

I feel terrible, right?

There must be loads of these charities that out there kind of like invisible helpers that we know nothing about. If it wasn't thanks to a listener Jason, who in January, I was trying to give him $1,000 in cash, and he said no, he wanted it to go to this charity that we all now as know as Backpacks of It Kids.

And we wouldn't know about them. And then we met Sally back at the start this year. And that's what we said. We'd love to do something on the show at the end of the year. Sally. Good morning. Sally, I bet you can't believe it. We can't. No, I can't. I can't. leave it. It's going to take a while for that to sink in because

that's just absolutely massive to our charity and it means that so many more kids can have

their dignity restored and, you know, just feel better about the world and really feel...

I saw one of the messages from a donor said that these packs are not only filled with essential items,

now they're filled with love too.

And, you know, I really feel that.

I really feel that every single dollar from small amount to large amounts

has been given with a huge amount of generosity from so many beautiful people. And as you said,

from around the world, this is crazy. Yeah, it's amazing. Sally, I spoke to a call to a

call her yesterday evening, right? And he said that he knew you, and years ago you were helping out with this charity

from your kitchen.

How long have you been involved with the charity?

So I started backpacks for Vic Kids seven years ago, and for the first year and a half,

we did what we do from my lounge room and then from a little room that my husband built

under the Pagola for that purpose

and slowly had a garage here and shed there and then eventually moved to a commercial premise

and now we're in a premise that allows us to increase our capacity and now thanks for this amazing

fundraiser we can now increase

...