With the festive season rapidly approaching, a Mount Gambier youngster is doing her part to help ensure children in need do not go without this Christmas.


Budding chef Olive Bruttomesso took full advantage of the recent school holiday break to bake up a storm in support of ac.care, raising more than $600 to provide some essential items and help spread love and happiness to children who may otherwise go without.


“Mum and I do lots of cooking together and I thought we could earn some money for kids who do not have much”, Olive said.


“ac.care helps kids in care and families who do not have very much, so I wanted to donate to them because they should have the same happiness as I have every day.”


Baking all kinds of sweet treats, she was able to raise $300 through the sale of chocolate and lemon brownies and chocolate chip cookies, as well as a delicious strawberry soda, with community members also chipping in to donate when hearing of the youngster’s inspirational efforts.


“Lots of friends and family came to my bake sale and bought my sweet packs,” Olive said.


“The next day I went to Bay Blue and the man who works there gave me $20 and a girl who was having a coffee donated $20 too.


“They asked what I was doing for the day and I told them I was shopping for kids in need with my bake sale money.”


Popping into Mount Gambier businesses to purchase items for her goodie packs, Olive was able to put together a number of backpacks, with a further matched donation from a family member to help purchase Christmas presents to also be gifted to children.


“The bake sale raised $300 and then my uncle said he would give me the same amount as I made at the bake sale, so he gave me another $300 and we made $600 in total,” she said.


“Mum and me went shopping and bought backpacks to fill with pyjamas, tooth brushes and toothpaste, toys, pencils and notepads, underwear, socks, drink bottles and hair brushes.


“It was fun to choose things I thought kids would like.


“With the $300 my uncle gave us we are going to buy Christmas presents for ac.care kids.”


The success of the bake sale has inspired Olive to expand her baked goods range and host more events in the future to help those in need, delighting her proud parents Carmen and Sebastiano.


“We are so proud of Olive, she is a very thoughtful girl who has always been emotionally intelligent beyond her years and has been baking and cooking with me since the age of 3,” Ms Bruttomesso said.


The apple does not fall far from the tree it appears, with Olive’s love of cooking able to be traced straight back to Carmen.


“Olive is quite a talented little chef. She has learnt all about food safety and using kitchen equipment,” she said.


The family bake sales have also been a great learning experience for the youngster, proving to be a great opportunity to teach important life lessons and skills.


“We have held a couple of other bake sales in the past as a way of teaching Olive the value of work and money. I was the bank she borrowed her money from to purchase the ingredients and helped her bake, set up the stalls and count back change.


“Olive would then repay me for her ‘business loan’ and was free to spend her profits however she wanted.


“This time Olive chose to donate to ac.care and has set the intention to put a charity bake sale annually in October.”


The time spent in the kitchen preparing goodies for the bake sale fundraiser have been a hit, with the whole family getting involved to make the events successful.


“The bake sales have been a really fun holiday activity where Olive has gained countless life skills. It is a big day when we organise a bake sale, she is wiped out by the end of it, but it’s what she learns from each experience is priceless,” Ms Bruttomesso said.


ac.care chief executive Shane Maddocks welcomed the commitment by Olive to supporting others.


“It is wonderful to see children thinking of others, learning skills and contributing to the community,” Mr Maddocks said.


“Together we can make a difference in improving the lives of vulnerable people in our communities and contributions like Olive’s increase our impact, especially at Christmas.”