Supporting over 650 students disengaged from school classrooms
June 22, 2023

Have you heard of Paw Pals?
Through the use of canine friends, MacKillop Family Services is helping transform the lives of youth in our community. 

CDF was once again proud to be a Matching Partner for this year’s Paws4Kids campaign. The month-long initiative aims to raise funds for MacKillop Family Services’ Paw Pals program.


Paw Pals, an Animal Assisted Education Program, is 100% community funded and helps children find their way back into classrooms and education. The structured student intervention was developed in 2019 and assists children and youth between the ages of 5 to 21 years to increase social confidence, develop emotional intelligence, improve behavioural management skills, increase engagement in learning activities and deliver positive learning experiences and opportunities for students who have been affected by trauma.


Since 2019 over 2,600 Paw Pals sessions have been held, helping more than 650 students across Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat. The 2023 campaign will enable the Paw Pals team to reach more than 200 students in the year ahead.


Program founder, Sarah Castle, says “the program is reaching students in a way that teachers, on their own, cannot. It’s presenting a solution to the challenge of engaging kids who are struggling to learn in school, something that we’re seeing more and more, particularly as schools have transitioned from home-learning back into the classroom.” 

This year, through the generosity of the community – including CDF – over $285,000 has been raised to support the life-changing work of the Paw Pals team throughout Victoria.


For more information, or to donate, visit Paws4Kids.

Birthday Sparks

Photo By: John Doe
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Photo By: John Doe
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Pictured above: The MacKillop Family Services team at CDF Melbourne head office.

“The program is reaching students in a way that teachers, on their own, cannot."


Sarah Castle, Program Founder

Pictured above: The CDF team at the Paws4Kids Matched Giving Day.

To help CDF continue to meet strong loan demand from the Catholic community, you too can put your faith in action and save for a greater reward than money alone. Not only will you earn a competitive rate of interest, but your savings will assist social services like MacKillop Family Services and other Catholic organisations to continue the work the Gospel calls on them to do. Learn more and apply today.

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