Join us in breaking the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage in Cape York.
You won’t just be making a donation. Your support will empower Indigenous Australians in Cape York and beyond to create positive change in their communities. Every donation, large or small, can create a ripple of change that will span generations.
Choose your cause, make an impact.
We recognise that our supporters are unique, just like the communities we serve. That’s why you can choose from the initiatives below and decide where your donation will have the most impact. Or make a general donation knowing it will go to the project in most need.
You can also visit our shop for limited-edition art prints and merchandise.
Want to see how your donation makes a difference? Read our stories of success!
100% of the donation received goes to the cause you choose. All donations of more than $2 are tax-deductible. Thank you for your support.
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Choose your initiative
Fresh Food Family Supporter
Provide a Cape York family with healthy food by purchasing a Mayi Market fruit and vegetable box. The family will also be supported to complete a budget at the O-Hub so they are empowered to continue with a Mayi Market subscription.
Remote Cape York communities are paying up to triple the price for food when compared to regional communities, such as Cairns. Apunipima Cape York Health Council reports diabetes in children as young as five years of age, and have growing concerns about under-nutrition and early obesity.Â
It is clear that food insecurity and the exorbitant cost of quality fresh food is contributing to a high rate of chronic disease in our communities.Â
Mayi Market is a not-for-profit Indigenous enterprise delivering quality, fresh food to remote Cape York communities at fair prices. We currently make fortnightly deliveries to Coen, Hope Vale, Wujal Wujal, Mossman Gorge and, most recently, Aurukun.Â
By buying a fruit and vegetable box, you help provide access to affordable, nutritious food, which is key to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities. The MPower budgeting session at the O-Hub will empower the family to plan a Mayi Market subscription.
Bring traditional languages to schools
Help the children of Cape York Peninsula to be fluent and literate in their ancestral languages so they can walk with confidence in two worlds, as the inheritors of their rich, living cultural heritage by supporting an in-school language program through Pama Langauge Centre.
The languages of Cape York Peninsula are keys to some of the oldest continuous living traditions on the planet. These languages are now fragile and immediately threatened. Pama Language Centre works with Language Champions to record, revive, revitalise and maintain the languages of Cape York, including embedding languages into the classroom.
Pama Language Centre harnesses traditional knowledge, best practice language pedagogy and modern technology, such as augmented reality.
These exciting, immersive learning resources turn school rooms into active language learning environments, enabling and encouraging students to both actively study and reengage naturally with their languages.
Students of Hope Vale Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy are already reaping the benefits of a language program, but we need your help to bring it to more schools throughout Cape York.
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SUPPORT A YOUNG SCHOOL LEAVER INTO A JOB
Many students complete Year 12 without a clear pathway to employment or an understanding of the barriers they will face. You can support one Year 12 student from through Cape York Employment's Schools to Jobs Program to ensure they are learning or earning after they leave school.Â
The Schools to Jobs program currently works with senior students from Djarragun College, Cape York Leaders Program and Cape York Girl Academy to provide mentorship while they are at school and pathways to their employment, predominantly in apprenticeships and traineeships.Â
Employers throughout the region take on apprentices and trainees to provide the on-the-job skills required, while School to Jobs provides the culturally appropriate wrap-around support needed to ensure these young people stay on the right path.
School to Jobs also works with businesses out the region and supports these young people to orbit to a new location for work.
School to Jobs is currently working with hosts in a range of industries, including hospitality, engineering, carpentry, construction and childcare.
It costs $5,000 a year to support each young employee, so the more support we have, the more youth we can help find and maintain a job.Â
We are expecting 80+ graduates from Djarragun College and Cape York Leaders Program in 2023
The benefits of these jobs cannot be understated. It goes far beyond an earned income and suport for one individual. A genuine, meaningful job restores personal pride, builds resilient families and creates safer communities
Support the nex-gen of leaders
Support an Indigenous student with a scholarship through Cape York Leaders Program to study at university for a full year so they can become a leader in their community.
Cape York Leaders Program empowers talented Indigenous Leaders of all ages to reach their potential. We empower Leaders through secondary and tertiary scholarships to allow them to go to the best educational institutes.
Our alumni can be found right throughout Australia working as doctors, lawyers, mayors, CEOS and other high-profile leadership positions.
There are currently more than 14 students on an Academic Leaders Tertiary scholarship studying at the best universities right throughout Australia. However, there are many more Indigenous high school students from Cape York who dream of continuing their studies at university.
By supporting a tertiary scholarship, you ease the financial stress of living away from home so young Indigenous leaders can focus on their studies and fulfil their potential.
Living and learning together
Help Cape York Girl Academy – Australia’s first boarding high school designed for young Indigenous mothers and their babies – to cover the 'gap' of boarding a young mother and her child to continue their education.Â
These courageous young women are choosing education over a life of welfare. We need your support so they can finish their schooling.
Many young women in Cape York fall victim to a vicious intergenerational cycle of social dysfunction, teenage pregnancy and disengagement from education and employment. 84% of Cape York girls do not finish high school.
Cape York Girl Academy gives these girls a chance to recover their education, their culture and become a powerful force for change.
While living on campus, students receive wrap-around case management tailored to individuals and their babies, a culturally centered curriculum and uniquely tailored learning pathways towards tertiary education or employment.
The amount of government funding allocated per Girl Academy student falls short of the costs by $10,000. You can help cover this gap.
This payment will support one young Indigenous mother’s school fees, boarding costs and living expenses while she lives and learns with her baby at Cape York Girl Academy so she can make the most out of her education.
General donation
If you can't decide between the projects shown here, you can choose to make a general donation in the knowledge that it will go towards the project most in need of your support at the time.Â
SHOP
Visit our online shop to find clothing and gifts that make a real difference. You’re not just purchasing a t-shirt or art print, you’re empowering the people and communities of Cape York.Â
