Charity Involvement

Art proceeds to help Kickstart for Kids
reach out to more hungry school kids

PHOTOGRAPHER Luiza Michalewicz’s heart broke when she heard Ian Steel’s stories of
children going to school without breakfast.

The Semaphore Park artist, born in Poland, will donate all of the profits from her Cosmic
Fingerprints exhibition, which opens this Friday, August 1, to Mr Steel’s charity Kickstart for
Kids, which provides breakfast programs for schools across South Australia.

The charity this week celebrates signing up the 120th school to its school breakfast programs
and this week has announced a significant partnership with the Commonwealth Bank.
The undisclosed sponsorship for one year, with the possibility to extend it for two years, will
see the free breakfast program delivered to regional schools around the state for the first time.
CBA staff will be on hand as volunteers in the areas.

Kickstart for Kids currently provides 20,000 breakfasts per week and 700 – 800 emergency
lunches to 120 public and some semi-private schools.

Mr Steel, a student mentor and coach, said the partnership would go a long way in the
charity’s aim to double the number of assisted schools in the next 12 months.

“I realised that most kids were turning up on empty stomachs, either because families didn’t
care or just didn’t have the means, and that was causing behavioural problems.

“As a father, I couldn’t ignore the huge difference a good breakfast makes in controlling so
many aspects at school whether it’s feeling cared for, longer attention spans or positive
behaviour changes.

Mr Steel said it costs $1200 to feed an entire school and CBA’s support means the charity is
one step closer to helping and reaching out to more needy children.

National Pharmacies is another major sponsor of the charity and a number of smaller local
businesses and suppliers also assist with the program.

The charity, which has been running for eight years, has a goal of raising money to set up its
own cold store, so it can become more efficient logistically.

Michalewicz’s funds will go towards this project and the charity’s general activities.
Michalewicz said she had been working on the exhibition for about nine months.
“Each of us has a unique story to tell — a cosmic fingerprint that we leave behind,’’ she said.
“This collection of vibrant colours, lines and patterns represents the passage of time, our
personal experiences — our unique life story. Through different colours and arrangements,
we can identify and interpret our unique existence: childhood memories and hopes, first love,
excitement and monotony, happiness and sadness, failures and accomplishments.
“I’d like people when they look at my photographs – I want them to stand in front of them
and spend some time and think about what story there is for them in that photograph.
“If it evokes feelings, it doesn’t necessarily have to be positive but I want people to stop for a
change, because we rush so fast through the day … I wanted to make a collection of
photographs which evoke some deeper thoughts.’’

The photographs are unaltered with no digital retouching after they are taken.
The Cosmic Fingerprints exhibition is part of the South Australian Living Artists (SALA)
Festival. It opens this Friday at Georges in Waymouth St and will run until August 23.