Malkara School community rallies after COVID exposure

Mel Clode's son Charlie is a student of Malkara School in Garran, but was not in attendance when the school was exposed to COVID.

"We are lucky that we're not one of the quarantined families, but a lot of people that we know are, including some of the amazing staff that Charlie has at Malkara," Ms Clode said.

Malkara Specialist School in Garran was a close contact site on September 7 and 8, leading to about 16 families and 20 staff quarantining, Ms Clode said.

Ms Clode's family relies on the assistance of many members of the community to support Charlie, and she said that being cut off from that in quarantine would be extremely difficult.

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"If our support workers weren't coming to help with Charlie each day, and his [occupational therapist] and physio, his speech pathologist ... the hospital in the home people last week, it would be a really tough struggle for us to exist in quarantine," she said.

"A lot of these families have a lot of young children, sometimes multiple children have disabilities."

Ms Clode has been part of an effort to supply hampers and food to 94 families and individuals who have been impacted by the Malkara School exposure.

Everything from basic food items, through to items that might make their stay a little more comfortable have been provided and will continue to be provided through next week.

She's observed a surge of support from the wider community, including from Garry Malhotra of Ken Behren's Helping Hands, who has become known to the community through his work providing hot meals to those in need.

GG's Flowers, which employs young people with disabilities, has also come onboard after it experienced a COVID scare earlier in the outbreak.

Andrea de Vaal Horciu, the support and wellbeing officer at Malkara School spent last week calling around to those affected, drawing up lists of their needs.

It's tough to isolate if you have kids, but "when you have a child with a disability, it's so much harder," Ms de Vaal Horciu said.

"Many of our families weren't prepared, so it was tough trying to run around and get those things that they needed when we're all in isolation as well," she said of the scramble to organise provisions.

Ms de Vaal Horciu said a driver and van run by Embracing Ministries was providing contactless delivery of goods to families.

She said the school community had been impressed by in-reach testing provided as well as the Access and Sensory clinic testing facility.

Ms Clode has set up a Facebook page with more information regarding donations (Malkara Community Assistance), and contact-free drop-offs can be made at 12 Thurgood Court Gordon, 37 Jaeger Circuit Bruce, Ngunnawal Street Pantries, 22 Bullala Court Ngunnawal and 2 Gamba Square Ngunnawal.

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