Donuts: Helping Intellectually Disabled friends

Hi everyone!

My name is Leanne, and my hubby Rod and I have volunteered for many years with Intellectually Disabled adults, taking them on day trips, weekends away, and week-long breaks. Unfortunately, post-Covid, many organisations significantly increased their prices. Many of our friends found they could no longer afford to attend or found that their NDIS funding was quickly being used up. So, Rod and I decided just over a year ago to start a little business with the intention of keeping our costs as low as possible. I am an avid bargain hunter, and we have been able to offer our beautiful clients some great experiences, usually being able to keep costs to around half of the NDIS recommended price, which helps to make their funding go a lot further, and gives them the opportunity to spend lots more time with their friends, get out and about to places they haven't been, and do things they've never done.

What we are hoping to achieve here with GoFundMe is to buy a second-hand 12-seater van. This way, our guys can all be together, and have a much more comfortable trip than they get in our little cars. We will be able to save on van hire costs which can be used for better things, and hopefully be able to offer our fun days out to some more people.

We call ourselves Donuts. When our oldest Granddaughter was learning to talk, she couldn't say 'Grandad', and it sounded like 'Danat', which morphed into 'Donut', and Rod's new nickname stuck. Our guys have called him Donut for years, so when we started our group, we had a vote and decided to call ourselves Donuts. Rod is Donut, and all the rest of us are The Donutters, which is very apt because when we're out, there is so much fun, laughter and mischief that everyone around us must think we're all a little nutty!

Our motto is 'Supporting our Clients Through Friendship and Laughter', and we foster a family atmosphere. By this, we mean that our guys and their families and carers can call us whenever they want for a chat, and for those with no advocates, we do our best to go the extra mile, providing assistance and some transport at no cost. In keeping with the family feel, our Granddaughters and the lovely man I call my Dad often accompany us on programs. It's extremely important to Rod and I that our Grandchildren don't 'see' disability, and watching them all chatting and laughing together just melts my heart.

In addition to our trips away providing valuable respite to our Donutters and their families, the social aspect provides such important life skills as communication, patience and the occasional conflict resolution. We encourage healthy eating choices, personal and sun care and financial skills as we help them to make suitable purchases and talk about what change they should receive back.

We like to think outside the box when choosing activities, challenging them to try new things, which leads to pride, confidence and experiences to remember for a long time. We've been parasailing, snorkelling, I Fly indoor skydiving, horse riding, and at the end of the month, we're going hot air ballooning! When we visit theme parks or zoos, we always organise a special activity like tiger feeding, experiences with meerkats, capybaras, tamarin monkeys, seals, echidnas and quokkas, to name just a few.

If you can help just a little bit or know someone who can, Rod and I and our Donutters would be so grateful. Having a van will make a real difference to us all, and I can guarantee smiles from ear to ear! They are all so excited about what we're doing here, and if they could wish a van into reality, we'd already have a hundred of them!!!