The Buttons Project

The Bialik family will be familiar with the incredible Buttons Project in the Year 10 zone in the Besen Technology Building. In 2017 we achieved our goal of collecting 1.5 million buttons - the number of children killed during the Holocaust as estimated by Yad Vashem.

Collecting 1.5 million buttons for such an impactful project was no easy task and it would not have been possible without the incredible support of Carolyn and Len Eldridge from Toowoomba in Queensland. Carolyn mobilised her entire church community and her incredible efforts, including driving 294,500 buttons from Queensland to Bialik, ensured that with her support we achieved our goals.

Carolyn and Len, together with their beautiful community, are great friends of the Jewish community in general and of the Bialik family in particular. Following the horrific attack by Hamas on 7th of October, Carolyn immediately wrote to me and explained how her congregation turned out in blue and white as a sign of support for Israel. They handed out small Israeli flags and even had a Lion of Judah flag on their pulpit. There are even many Israeli flags on display in front lawns and on the back windows of cars in Carolyn and Len’s community, all of whom are so upset about the resultant anti-Semitism that our community has experienced during this challenging time.

Together with Heidi Meyerson, who as our Communications Manager at the time of the Buttons Project significant elements of the initiative, I was delighted to welcome Carolyn and Len back to Bialik. We toured the school, visited the Children’s Centre, and spent a very special time at the Buttons Project itself.

Carolyn and Len presented two beautiful pictures to the Bialik family. One is a canvas by Jennifer and Ron Marshall off the Light Horse charge of Beersheba in 1917, the last cavalry charge in history. It shows Major Hyman, a Jewish officer in Australian 12th Light Horse Regiment who led the charge and who was awarded the distinguished service order for his bravery.
The second picture is called the Resurrection of Israel, also by Jennifer Marshall, and is in response to a competition in which Jenny celebrates the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 after almost 2000 years.

The final gift is an incredible album of letters of support from Carolyn and Len’s community.

We will be putting the beautiful pictures around the school, and the album of letters is in main reception for anyone to browse through.

We thank Carolyn, Len and the Toowoomba community for their wonderful support at this time.