At a youth conference that took place over two weeks, almost 1000 young people of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aged between 14 and 17 years, took part in several service projects at St Joseph’s College to provide aid to refugees across the Sydney region.
Approximately $8000 worth of goods consisting of cans of beans, lentils, corn, diced tomatoes, corn flakes, rolled oats, rice, soap, deodorant, shampoo and razors were donated to House of Welcome, Jesuit Refugee Services and The Asylum Seekers Centre. These charities focus on giving aid to those seeking refuge and who are unable to find safety in their own nations. They assist refugees and asylum seekers during their desperate time of need.
Christian Inglis, one of the organisers of the event reflected, “They were so enthusiastic. I feel like the youth were so happy to be involved, and felt they were making a difference, knowing the food is used to feed refugees here in their local area.”
Jenny Tracey, Nutrition, Education and Social Support Service Manager at the Asylum Seekers Centre, accepted the donation on behalf of her organisation. She had the opportunity to speak to the youth on what a refugee is compared with an asylum seeker, why people become refugees, the number of refugees coming through the organisation and other issues of interest to the young audience.
One of the leaders at the event, Konstantinos Tzanis, commented, “[Representatives of the charities] were perhaps caught off guard when seeing an army of eager youth working together to pack these refugee supply boxes, seeing their cheerfulness and eagerness to get this work done. This service project was able to bring out a spirit of community & compassion for those far away struggling with finding refuge & perhaps even peace.”