White Pages Covers Program

Toowoomba congratulates Jessica Watkins, this year’s Yellow Pages® and White Pages® cover girl

February 11, 2010

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Each year, locals are featured on the covers of the Yellow Pages® and White Pages® directories in recognition of the contributions they make to their communities. Under the theme Courageous Australians, this year directories producer, Sensis, is recognising courageous people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to overcome adversity and help others in their time of need.

After receiving nominations from community members for the annual honour, Highfield resident, Jessica Watkins has been selected, to appear on the cover of this year’s Toowoomba directory which is distributed to Toowoomba, Warwick, Stanthorpe, Goondiwindi, Inglewood, St George, Dinnanbandi Districts and surrounding areas. 

At 15 months of age, Jessica was diagnosed with auto-immune hepatitis and by six, required a liver transplant. After waiting two years and surviving on a feeding tube 22 hours a day, a donor was found in 2008.

The change in Jessica after the liver transplant was remarkable and instantaneous, giving her a new found determination to get the most out of life. She took up swimming as part of her rehabilitation and helped launch the World Transplant Games with Premier Anna Bligh which she plans to compete in next year.

Jessica is also passionately creating awareness about organ donation. She has been the ambassador for the Bank of Queensland “Banking on our Kids” annual fundraiser for the past three years and has helped raise $170,000 for the Children’s Hospital Foundations in Australia.

At ten years old, Jessica is an inspiring young girl who has overcome significant adversity to help others like her.

Distribution of Toowoomba Yellow Pages® and White Pages® is planned to start on 13 February 2010 and it will take approximately six weeks for the directories to be delivered to all households.

Sensis encourages residents and businesses to recycle their old directories. In most areas, Yellow Pages® and White Pages® can be recycled as part of normal kerbside recycling services. Visit www.recyclingnearyou.com.au  to find out about recycling services in your area. 

Did you know? The past three local people who appeared on the Toowoomba Yellow Pages® and White Pages® cover were:

2009/10: Yellow Pages^® and White Pages^® featured Toowoomba residents Damien Kamholtz and Rachel Price for the ‘Creative Australians: Inspiring our Communities’ theme. They were selected for their innovative arts and environmental creative collective Play on Play (PoP) where they coordinated community based arts workshops.

2008/09: For the theme ‘Celebrating Australian Flavour’, Goondiwindi local Lori Mackay was recognised for drawing tourism to the region through the ‘Gourmet in Gundy’ food and wine festival.

2007/08: Crows Nest local Bente Moller appeared on the Yellow Pages^® and White Pages^® cover for the ‘Champions of our Community’ theme. Bente developed The Crows Nest Preschool Bike Safety Riding Program as well as dedicating her time to the Crows Nest Theatre Group and ‘Crows Nest Week’ festival.