Creating smiles with Starlight

Article supplied by Komatsu

When Joseph Kirkwood received a Komatsu Live Your Dream (LYD) grant, he knew exactly how he wanted to use it — to give back to the Starlight Children’s Foundation, an organisation that once supported him as a child and now benefits from his time as a volunteer.

Live Your Dream is a Komatsu initiative that gives employees the chance to support a community project or organisation they’re passionate about, with funding provided to help them bring their dream to life.

Joseph says his connection to Starlight runs deep. “Growing up, our family went through some hard times and because of that, I spent a lot of time in the Starlight Room myself. I know how much of a difference it makes. The support, joy and moments of escape that Starlight creates for kids and families truly does make an impact,” he says.

With the help of his LYD grant, Joseph has been able to extend his volunteering in the Starlight Express Room at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. Every fortnight, he spends Tuesday afternoons helping to brighten the experience of children facing serious illness. “It’s incredible to be part of something that meant so much to me as a kid and to now give back in a way that helps others going through their own challenges,” he says.

The impact of Joseph’s $10,000 LYD grant extends well beyond the time he gives as a volunteer. Joseph has helped Starlight to:

• Brighten the hospital experience of 256 children in the Starlight Express Room
• Broadcast 34 weeks of Starlight TV to sick kids in hospital wards
• Give 11 seriously ill teens access to vital peer support online for a year
• Fly Captain Starlight to a remote health clinic four times to entertain and support children receiving care.

The Starlight Foundation highlighted just how much Joseph’s passion and the grant have meant to their programs. “Our amazing volunteers bring their energy, positivity and enthusiasm to our programs and we are so thankful for the impact and the difference they make. Thanks to the Komatsu Live Your Dream Program, Joseph’s time volunteering has doubled the impact for children and young people in hospitals” – Chandra Franken, National Volunteer Manager – Starlight Children’s Foundation.

For Joseph, the experience is about more than volunteering. “It’s about giving back, creating smiles and helping kids be kids, even in the toughest of times.”