Lynn and Bill Creek have been supporters of Opportunity International Australia since 2001. They first heard about Opportunity after seeing the ABC’s Australian Story episode featuring the founder David Bussau.

“It was the philosophy that your donation could be recycled, and the money would keep making money for people that was so appealing,” said Lynn.

We had previously given to other organisations, but once you’ve given that money it’s gone. The fact that our donation lives on and on, it really resonated with us.”

“We started off donating to the Trust Banks, as we loved that idea. We used to have them up on our notice board, like other people had their sponsored World Vision or Compassion kids, we had Trust Banks!”

“It doesn’t even really feel like charity because the women Opportunity serves are working for the money,” said Lynn.

“They’re being empowered” added Bill. “I think it was said in that Australian Story, just because someone is living in poverty, doesn’t mean they can’t be a great entrepreneur.”

The concept of supporting entrepreneurs added an extra tick for Bill and Lynn, as they had also started their own screen-printing business back in 1987.

We had always tithed through the business, and microfinance was totally new to us. It made perfect sense for our business to give to other entrepreneurs.”

Bill was a high school Maths teacher with a Year 12 class he had since they were in Year 7. They were a close-knit class and Bill wanted to celebrate their years together with a gift. He’d seen someone else with names written on a shirt, so decided he would make his own for each student in the class.

“He bought a screen, printed the shirts on our table tennis table and used an iron to cure them,” said Lynn. “They were a huge hit.”

Graduate shirts are common place now in almost every school in Australia, but back in 1987 it was a new concept.

“It was just one of those ideas that worked,” said Bill.

Bill decided to give the business idea a go, and took long service leave from his teaching job to start the business, with Lynn’s help. The couple had just had their third child and began printing shirts at their home in Sydney’s north. They aptly named their business Crocodile Creek, and started receiving orders from all over the country, specialising mainly in Year 6 Graduation shirts.

Bill and Lynn ran Crocodile Creek full time for 30 years, before selling the business to their daughter Chey and her husband Ryan four years ago. They still operate partly out of Lynn and Bill’s basement, along with another factory in Sydney.

The couple is now retired and are enjoying travel again, especially in Asia.

A busy marketplace in East Timor street during an Insight Trip

Back in 2006, they travelled with Opportunity to Timor Leste on an insight trip, which they remember fondly.

“We flew by Cessna from Darwin to Timor-Leste which in 2006 was an adventure as overseas travel was new to us,” said Lynn. “We visited markets where some Trust Bank clients worked, and sat in on a Trust Bank meeting.

“We visited a lovely coastal town where clients were growing seaweed for commercial sale and a village where a cow fattening meeting was in progress and the winner of the fattest cow was announced, a tiny grandmother with the fattest cow and biggest smile! It was a wonderful experience.”

Opportunity has been part of our lives for over 20 years, so it’s only logical that our gift can continue to improve people’s lives, even when we’re not around.”

Lynn and Bill’s support of Opportunity isn’t just during their lifetime. They have generously decided to leave a gift in their will for Opportunity so their support will live on long after they’re gone.

"During our working lives we have lived by the Biblical principle of tithing, so in death we would like to leave a proportion of our assets to Opportunity,” said Bill.

“Opportunity keep saying thank you to us, but I’m really grateful to them for giving us the opportunity to give our donations in a way that we can trust, and is sustainable in the long-term,” added Lynn.