A weekly food and clothing charity service for homeless people and those in need is about to launch in Campbelltown.
Christian Aid will be operating from the Ron Moore community centre in Minto every Tuesday night.
The initiative is the brainchild of a group of young parishioners at two Coptic Orthodox churches in Campbelltown.
The young people took it upon themselves to start this charity with their aim to feed and clothe the homeless of Campbelltown and provide any other support they can.
Most of the young people involved work casual jobs or study full time, and the range of ages are between 18 to 24 years old.
None of them have ever done anything like this before, so it’s been a learning curve for them all.
The project team volunteered countless hours – and they passed the hat around themselves to pay for most of the expenses and set up costs for Charity Aid, which starts on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 14 in the Ron Moore community centre.
One of the main driving forces is Verena Reyad, however the South West Voice in Macarthur was unable to interview the young woman, who is currently overseas.
We did speak to Father Thomas Dos, who along with Ms Reyad and around 10 to 15 youths from the two parishes have been working hard over the past 12 months to get this new service up and running.
“This is the first time our churches here in Campbelltown have done something like this,’’ he said.
“We don’t expect too many people on the first night, but we will grow it slowly as more people hear about Charity Aid.
“It’s not just for the homeless, it’s for all people in need in our community,’’ Father Thomas said.
The food will be prepared in the kitchens of the two churches, which are located close by at Bradbury and Long Point.
The service will be offered at the Ron Moore Community Centre in Minto every Tuesday night from 7pm to 9pm.
Campbelltown Council has played a role in getting the project off the ground, by putting the organisers in contact with other charities and the Macarthur homeless steering committee, plus securing the Ron Moore community centre to host this service.
It’s great to see our future generation take the initiative to do something so selfless for our community. It’s lovely to see someone so young show compassion and love towards their fellow man.
If these youth are our future, then I think as a society we’re going to be ok. Keep up the good work guys.
It would be good to see the rest of the Campbelltown community encourage and support these kids.
Great reporting as always Eric.