In a time where the cost-of-living is making it harder and harder for parents to put their kids through activities, one local business has stepped forward with a new and innovative idea to both help make ends meet, and reduce clutter.
Dan Frkic and Con Apostolopoulos said that they came up with the idea for their business, PrezentBox, from a personal frustration.
“My wife and I were just sick of all the stuff that family and friends were buying our kids for birthdays and Christmases year after year – a whole bunch of stuff would end up cluttering the house, get thrown out, donated or regifted,” Frkic said.
PrezentBox is a website which allows for people to contribute money towards children’s activities, as opposed to purchasing physical gifts.
However, as the cost-of-living has risen, the benefits of the initiative have doubled.
“Unfortunately, with the rise in the cost-of-living, a lot of families are feeling the pinch when it comes to the family budget, so often kids’ extracurricular activities are some of the first things to get struck off that list. You’ve got to pay your rent, mortgage, utilities, insurance, daycare, school – all those things come first,” he said.
“We’re here to ensure that that doesn’t happen, keeping kids engaged in the activities that are really important for their growth and development.”
According to the duo, getting involved is easy.
“A parent will create their free account and a shareable event link to send to family and friends,” Frkic said.
“As soon as their family and friends contribute, they can then spend that money with any of our registered activity providers.”
Though PrezentBox is Camden-based, they have providers all over Sydney, including some right here in Penrith, like All Star Dance Studios, PCYC Penrith and Nepean Aquatic Centre.
Cambridge Park parents Narelle and Reece have been using PrezentBox for their daughter Freya’s swimming lessons at Nepean Aquatic Centre since receiving an email from the school.
“The email actually came through right before Freya’s first birthday, so it was perfect timing, and we thought, why not send out a link and get family and friends to donate money for her swimming rather than giving her toys and other unwanted gifts,” Narelle said.
Narelle said that the partnership has made a huge difference for them financially.
“It’s money towards something we’re already paying for. We don’t have money coming out of our account right now for swimming, which is great. We have more money to spend on groceries and other things that we need.”
Reece added that in addition to more parents getting involved, he hopes to see more local businesses do so too.
“It would be great if more businesses could get involved,” he said.
“There’s numerous things that you can do, not just swimming, and it all costs money. There’s lots of people we know who have little ones who do lots of stuff.”
Visit http://www.prezentbox.com.au.
Cassidy Pearce
Cassidy Pearce is a news and entertainment journalist with The Western Weekender. A graduate of the University of Technology Sydney, she has previously worked with Good Morning Macarthur and joined the Weekender in 2022.