My story 

I have an intellectual impairment and was diagnosed with severe scoliosis at the age of 15. Thanks to that scoliosis I had to have surgery, which is when I got my spine upgraded with two titanium rods. And if you’ve met me, you’ll know without a doubt that it has only made me stronger! 

A few years ago, I started collecting 10c recyclables from around my neighbourhood. 

In the beginning, I loved being able to get to know my neighbours and make new friends with awesome people, all while earning a bit of pocket money. 
I quickly discovered my passion for recycling, enjoying the challenge and adventure of helping the environment while connecting with my community. 

Then, around 2020, COVID happened.

Like a lot of Australians, I experienced some setbacks due to COVID, including the loss of a traineeship I’d been working really hard to get.

On the flipside, this gave me more time to not only pursue my passion - but also turn it into a business

Now? Well, I’ve gone from making pocket money to starting my own nonprofit: 10 Cent Tom Limited 

With the help of my family, and my amazing community of supporters and container collectors, I’m working towards having my own 10 Cent Tom depot that employs other people like me - one 10c container at a time!

MY GOAL IS TO BE A CHANGEMAKER

With the support of my friends, family, and community, I’ve turned my passion for people and recycling into my new future – being a changemaker.

For me, being a changemaker means creating social and environmental changes, based on my own life and experiences. I want to make changes for others like me, changes that benefit and empower, changes that are truly for the better. 

My goal as a changemaker is to leverage my passion for recycling and turn it into a viable business that promotes inclusivity and creates equitable opportunities for people with disabilities.

​

I am doing this through my charity, 10 Cent Tom Limited.

Donate to a good cause

I’d love your support in helping us raise funds to assist more schools supporting students with disabilities by providing essential food for their breakfast clubs. Right now, we have four schools on a waitlist for extra support. At the moment, we’re proudly running a breakfast program at Mudgeeraba Special School.

To help boost donations, we’ll be engaging our community on social media — we’ve got nearly 19,000 followers on Facebook and 3,500 on Instagram 🙂. We’ll also be reaching out to Hot Tomato to encourage broader community support.

Tom and a few of the team can put together a short video to help promote the cause and give a shout-out to the amazing businesses you’ve helped get involved.

Thanks so much for considering this — it really does make a difference.