Hundreds of students from Catholic Schools across the Hunter and Forster regions have shown they have big hearts this month.
After hearing CatholicCare’s call for help through the launch of their Make a Difference Appeal, St Peter’s Primary School, Stockton, St Paul’s Primary School, Gateshead and Holy Name Primary School, Forster came up with a few ways to show their support.
St Peter’s hosted an out of uniform day for a gold coin donation, St Paul’s will donate funds from the sale of Zooper Doopers and Holy Name collected food items to restock the Forster Community Kitchen Pantry.
St Peter’s Assistant Principal Mark Konik says his students were thrilled to support an incredible cause. They raised over $200.
“It feels good to know that the money we raised will be going to help people in our community,” Mr Konik said.
“It was nice to know that we could give something back and the students enjoyed being able to wear ‘mufti’ clothes. They liked the fact their money was going to a worthy cause.”
St Paul’s Assistant Principal Meg Smith says supporting CatholicCare Hunter-Manning helped them put their motto in action.
“Donating is not about how it makes us feel – it's all about reaching out to others as best we can, living our school motto: ‘Love One Another’,” she said.
Students Max and Harrison love having a “cold treat on a hot day” to support those in need.
“The most amazing thing about St Paul's is that we always help other people,” Harrison said.
It’s a similar story at Holy Name – the students love to give back to the Community Kitchens and have done so for the past two years.
“CatholicCare and Holy Name School have been strengthening the connections between our services from the beginning of their time here in Forster a few years ago,” Principal Brooke Stephens said.
Since 2020 the school has found several ways to provide assistance. Recently they donated nine hampers of food.
“The month of August was highlighted by our Catholic Schools Office Director as a month where schools could support CatholicCare due to the growing needs within each community across the Diocese,” Ms Stephens said.
“There was a suggestion of a gold coin donation day, however, we felt our community would respond positively to supporting the purchase of goods for the Community Kitchen pantry.
“Over a period of a week or so, the families and our staff, very generously donated around seven clothes baskets full of goodies.”
She adds it’s a great lesson about community and kindness for the students.
“It is always good to know that we are reaching out into the community to support those in need,” Ms Stephens said.
“It opens our eyes to the diversity of situations that we might otherwise not be as aware of and provides an option for our school to make a difference.”
If you’d like to also get involved and support CatholicCare, there is still time to donate to our Make a Difference Appeal. However, food and financial support is accepted year-round.
Your generosity will go a long way.
Donating is simple and only takes a few steps. Click here to find out more.
Food donations can be dropped off at The Refugee Hub in Mayfield, the Taree Community Kitchen and the Forster Community Kitchen.