My dad Tom Cusack was working on the switchboard at the POW camp on the night of the escape.

It has always been a part of my life but I learned so much last weekend. Everything we attended was so well and thoughtfully organised.

Genevieve McLean

Kiama

My son Matthew learnt Japanese from Judi Smith and went on to teach it himself. He has also taken many trips to Japan. His brother Tim accompanied him on one trip.

I have a lovely picture of him with the 98 year old Japanese gentleman who is the last remaining person alive from the 1944 breakout.

Matthew's (and his three brothers and five cousin's) grandfather, Tom Cusack was the telephonist at the Camp at the time of the Breakout.

His story was told/acted out on Sunday night.

I just thought it made a good story - the Japanese connection from 1944 to 2019.

My four sons were all born and schooled in Cowra.

Also, Tom met his wife Eva as her dad used to deliver goods to the POW camp and they chatted on the phone.

Her picture is at the Visitor Centre and at the POW site - the one with the Indonesians.

Their daughter, Genevieve stood with her son Jon as he read Tom's story.

Another son, Alex joined them and my four sons too. Tom's daughter and 6 of his 9 grandchildren stood there.

Trish Cusack, Cowra

Any new businesses that comes to Cowra is a good thing. With a long wait time for appointments to see current doctors having extra doctors is an better thing for Cowra.

Ray Johnston, Cowra

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to the NSW community for their support of The Smith Family's 2019 Winter Appeal.

In an inspiring display of empathy for the plight of Australian children living in poverty, we are deeply humbled by the generosity of the many Australians who donated more than $2 million in NSW, to help us deliver vital out-of-school learning and mentoring support, for thousands of students living in disadvantage.

With one in six young Australians living below the poverty line, it is heart-warming to see so many people join us to change educational outcomes for these children.

Research tells us that one in four children from our most disadvantaged communities start school already behind in areas like literacy and numeracy.

Without intervention, the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students continues to grow. By the age of 15, this gap is equivalent to around three years of schooling.

But if a disadvantaged child has access to the right support at the right time during their studies, they will have a much more positive future.

The donations we received during our appeal will help us reach more than 12,000 students in need nationally through programs such as iTrack and student2student, which encourage children to stay in school and make the most of their education.

So to everyone who has altruistically given their time and dollars to support us, and so provide a helping hand to children in need, we extend a heartfelt thank you.