Puddle Jumpers Incorporated

We don't mind a bit of fairy floss in our lives! It's so awesome to have Floss Adelaide as a sponsor for this years Gala.

Floss Adelaide creates beautifully made, all-natural fairy floss designed to surprise, delight, and be remembered. From children’s parties and family celebrations to brand activations and corporate gifting, they turn a simple treat into a standout experience - thoughtfully styled, easy to organise, and guaranteed to bring smiles.

Their floss is preservative free, dairy free, nut free, gluten free, soy free and egg free.

Learn more about them here ... 👇
https://flossadelaide.com.au/

Looking for something to do this Public Holiday Monday? ❤️

Why not spend a few hours making a real difference in your community?

We would love some extra helping hands across our programs:

📦 Kilkenny Warehouse
8:30am – 2:00pm
Help sort and prepare food relief for families across Adelaide.

🍎 Hindmarsh Food Hub
10:00am – 2:00pm and/or 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Help support families accessing food relief, meals and essential items.

🍲 Salisbury North Food Program
👩‍🍳 From 12:00pm – Cooking
🚚 From 3:00pm – Set Up
❤️ From 5:00pm – 8:00pm – Meals, Markets, Kids Activities and Program Support

🎪 Glandore Head Office
From 10:30am onwards
Help us put the finishing touches on The Greatest Gala before the big night!

Whether you can spare an hour, a morning, an afternoon or the whole day, we’d love to have you join us.

No experience needed. Just bring yourself, a smile, and a willingness to help.

Send us a message or comment below if you can lend a hand. Together, we can make sure families and children feel supported this long weekend. ❤️

🍽️ WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT? 🍽️

If cooking feels like just one thing too many today, we’ve got you covered. 💛

The amazing Pop-Up Health team will be at the Remembering Chelsea Ireland Western Food Hub tonight from 4pm–7pm with plenty of delicious meals available, including:

🍝 Spaghetti Bolognese
🍛 Butter Chicken
🍚 Risotto
🍎 Apple Crumble

While you’re there, don’t forget to have a look around. We’ve also got fresh fruit and vegetables, pantry items, bakery goodies and shelves packed with bonus items including books, clothing, dance shoes, masks and more.

📍 266A Port Road, Hindmarsh
🕓 Open tonight 4pm–7pm

Come and grab dinner, pick up a few essentials and have a browse. Community is what we’re all about. 💛

No judgement.
No hoops to jump through.
Just people helping people

Some experiences are just better shared.

The laughs while you’re trying to convince each other to sign up.

The nerves on the drive there.

The “What have we gotten ourselves into?” conversations in the harness room.

Standing on the roof looking out across Adelaide together.

Cheering each other on.

Watching your mate step over the edge.

The high fives at the bottom.

The photos you’ll still be laughing about years later.

The Adelaide City Plunge isn’t just about abseiling 70 metres down a building.

It’s about creating one of those memories that your team, your work mates, your family or your friendship group will never forget.

So here’s our challenge to you…

Who are your 4?

Tag them below 👇

The one who is always up for an adventure.
The one who will be terrified but do it anyway.
The one who will talk the loudest but be the most nervous.
And the one who’ll be the first to say “Let’s do it!”

Get your team together and make 29th August 2026 a day you’ll be talking about for years.

🧗 Team of 4 registrations available
📅 29 August 2026
❤️ Supporting children and young people through Puddle Jumpers

Who’s in your 4?

🧡 LONG WEEKEND = LIGHT ON HANDS! 🧡

We know it’s a long weekend. We know people are away, camping, sleeping in or enjoying some family time (and rightly so!) ☀️

But right now, we have just 3 volunteers signed up for today’s Sunday Market run.

Every week this small but mighty crew collects fresh fruit and veg that helps stock our food programs and supports families doing it tough. With only 3 people, we’re going to struggle to collect, sort and unload everything that comes through.

⏰ Can you spare an hour or two?

You don’t have to commit to the whole day.
Even helping with one part of the run would make a huge difference.

📍 Sunday Market Run
• 11:30am – Kilkenny
• 12:00pm – Pooraka Markets
• 3:30pm – Back at Kilkenny to unload

💪 Extra hands
🚗 Drivers
❤️ Good humans

That’s all we’re looking for.

If you’ve been thinking about volunteering, or you’ve helped before and can spare a little time today, we’d love to hear from you.

Comment below or send us a message and help us keep the fresh produce flowing to the families who rely on it. 🧡

Some people leave a mark long after they finish their shift.

For years, Nicki, Louisa and Michelle generously gave their time, volunteering with us two days every week. When they reached retirement age in April, we thought we might be seeing a little less of them.

We should have known better. ❤️

Last week these incredible women came back to spend the day with us, wrapping gala prizes, tying ribbons, making baskets look beautiful and helping create a little bit of magic for our upcoming event.

Not because they had to.
Not because anyone asked them to.
Simply because they care.

The thing about volunteers like Nicki, Louisa and Michelle is that they don’t just give their time. They give their hearts. They show up, they pitch in, they make people laugh, and they remind us what community really looks like.

We are so incredibly lucky to have had them as part of our Puddle Jumpers family, and even luckier that they still pop back in to lend a hand when we need it.

Nicki, Louisa and Michelle — we love you. Thank you for everything you have done, and continue to do, for the children and families we support. You are absolute gems. 💜✨

A budget is more than numbers.

It’s a statement about what we value.

Like many in the community sector, we’ve spent the last few days looking closely at the State Budget and asking ourselves a simple question:

What if we invested earlier?

Every week at Puddle Jumpers we meet families who are doing their absolute best while facing impossible circumstances.

We see children carrying trauma.

We see parents struggling with rising costs.

We see foster and kinship carers opening their homes and hearts to children who need safety and stability.

And increasingly, we see families reaching crisis point before meaningful support arrives.

What we know is that homelessness, child protection involvement, poor mental health outcomes, school disengagement and future justice system involvement don’t happen in isolation.

Often they begin with childhood trauma, disadvantage and unmet need.

By the time a young person is homeless, enters care, presents in crisis or becomes involved with the justice system, we are already responding at the most expensive and heartbreaking end of the problem.

Across Australia, around 350,000 people are now seeking food relief every month.

More than one-third are doing so for the first time.

And nearly 74,000 people are being turned away because charities simply cannot keep up with demand.

That should concern all of us.

Because those numbers aren’t statistics.

They’re families.

They’re children.

They’re grandparents raising grandchildren.

They’re foster carers.

They’re people who never imagined they would need to ask for help.

And if I’m honest, I’m worried about what comes next.

Community organisations are already being asked to do more with less.

Our volunteers already witness the heartbreak of families choosing between food, rent, electricity, fuel and medication.

We know what happens when more people are struggling and fewer supports are available.

Food relief services become busier.

Waiting lists get longer.

Crisis services become overwhelmed.

And charities are left trying to catch people who could have been supported much earlier.

Nobody wants to see a future where charities become the safety net for systems that should have caught people before crisis arrived.

The answer isn’t simply more crisis responses.

The answer is investing earlier.

Supporting families sooner.

Backing foster and kinship carers.

Addressing childhood trauma.

Creating opportunities for children to belong, connect and thrive.

Because every dollar invested early has the potential to reduce future pressure on child protection, homelessness, health and justice systems.

Most importantly, it gives children the opportunity to grow into the people they were always capable of becoming.

Every child deserves the chance to thrive, not just survive.

Meet Jan ❤️

Sometimes the most beautiful ideas start with one person simply asking, “How can I help?”

Jan had an idea.

She knows that for many young girls, having access to sanitary items isn’t always easy. She also knows how important it is for girls to feel prepared, confident and supported, especially when they’re at school, on camp, or simply out and about.

So Jan got sewing.

One by one, she is creating these gorgeous handmade zip-up bags that can be tucked into a backpack, school bag or handbag, ready to hold sanitary items whenever they’re needed.

Look at them! Bright, colourful, practical and made with so much care. 🩷

What we love most is that these little bags are about more than fabric and thread. They send a powerful message to young people:

“Someone thought about you. Someone cares. Someone wanted to make sure you have what you need.”

Acts of kindness like this are what make our village so special.

Thank you, Jan, for using your time, talent and big heart to help support young girls in our community. We can’t wait to fill these beautiful bags and get them into the hands of the young people who need them.

You’re an absolute legend. 🌟

💜🧵✨

The people who turn up.

Lately, we’ve noticed something.

The faces coming through our doors are changing.

Yes, we still see people experiencing homelessness. We still support families in crisis. We still meet people escaping violence, living with disability, navigating mental health challenges, or doing it tough for a whole range of reasons.

But more and more, we’re also seeing people who never imagined they would need to ask for help.

People who work.

People who own homes.

People who have always donated to charities, not accessed them.

People who have spent their entire lives standing on their own two feet.

The cost of living is biting hard.

It’s the mum who has paid the rent but has $17 left until payday.

The grandparent choosing between medication and groceries.

The young family whose mortgage has gone up again.

The person working two jobs who still can’t seem to get ahead.

The student trying to study while juggling bills.

The older person who quietly admits they haven’t turned the heater on this winter because the power bill scares them.

And perhaps the hardest part?

The shame.

The embarrassment.

The tears that often come before someone walks through our doors for the very first time.

Many arrive apologising.

“I know there are people worse off than me.”

“I never thought I’d be here.”

“I’ll only take a little bit.”

But hardship doesn’t have to look like rock bottom before someone deserves support.

Nobody should have to wait until they are completely broken before asking for help.

What we see every day is that people are doing their absolute best.

They’re budgeting.

They’re working.

They’re sacrificing.

They’re skipping meals so their children can eat.

They’re making impossible choices with impossible numbers.

And when they finally reach out, what they need most isn’t judgement.

It’s kindness.

It’s dignity.

It’s someone saying, “You’re welcome here.”

The reality is that many of us are only one unexpected bill, one illness, one job loss, one relationship breakdown, or one crisis away from needing support ourselves.

So if you’re one of the people who has found yourself needing a little extra help lately, please know this:

You are not alone.

You are not a failure.

You are not taking from someone more deserving.

You are simply a human being living through a really tough time.

And just like everyone else, you deserve a village when life gets hard.

🎪✨ And just like that… our Gala Silent Auction Catalogue is OPEN! ✨🎪

With just one week to go until The Greatest Gala: Where Hope Takes Centre Stage, the bidding has officially begun!

We have some absolutely sensational items up for grabs, with something for everyone — experiences, artwork, accommodation, family fun, unique gifts and so much more.

The best part? You don’t need to be attending the gala to bid. If you can’t make it on the night, you can still support Puddle Jumpers and help us continue providing vital support to children, young people and families doing it tough.

Every bid helps make a difference. ❤️

Take a look, register and start bidding today:

Puddle Jumpers Silent Auction Catalogue⁠:
https://app.galabid.com/puddlejumpers/items

Good luck and happy bidding! 🎉