Make a Difference Day (MAD)
Dear Students and Families,
With MAD Day 10 weeks away, the College Leaders would like to remind all students to make a concerted effort to raise funds to make a difference in our community and our world.
Our College community is participating in our annual Make-A-Difference (MAD) Day on Friday 25th June to raise funds for the Presentation Sisters’ Wellsprings for Women work in Dandenong, and the De La Salle Brothers’ Lasallian Mission projects for poor and marginalised young people in the Asia-Pacific region. These projects provide an opportunity to break the poverty cycle and give great support to those of our sisters and brothers who are in great need.
We are aiming to help over 10,000 people by raising in excess of $15,000.
Sometimes we can get lost in statistics and data, and lose sight of the great underlying truth. In our community and in our world are there are people, just like us, who are in need: young people, mums and dads, sisters and brothers, uncles and aunties, grandparents. Your contributions really make a great difference in the lives of these people in need.
An example, from Lasallian Mission, is Rama.
When he was very small Rama was found begging in Virdhunagar village at a bus stand. An elderly woman found and befriended him. This is his first memory as a child. He has no recollection of ever having parents or belonging to any family. He was taken to one of the programs conducted under the auspices of the De La Salle Brothers India, called Reaching the Unreached (RTU). RTU is a holistic program, which gives familial support, health monitoring, friends, safety, shelter and access to learning.
Rama was given a home at Boys Village. He lives here with another 85 young orphaned or very poor boys. Beyond the basics of housing, food, clothing, education, medical, Boys Village boys learn life skills such as cleaning, cooking, and gardening (they grow their own crops that are sold back to the kitchen); all skills that they will use throughout their lives. Rama is now 15 years old and wants to be a policeman when he finishes school.
Likewise the Presentation Sisters work extensively in the developing world to support those in great need. However we support their efforts much closer to home. The truth is that we do not need to look very far to find people in need of assistance. Less than a ten minute walk from our school is Wellsprings for Women, a centre where women from all backgrounds are accepted and empowered. Wellsprings believes in the innate goodness of every woman and seeks to find those who society has neglected.
Wellsprings provides educational services, recreational activities and community outreach services for all participants. Wellsprings programs are designed for women by women and aim to help them reach their potential. Wellsprings’ values are centred around the mission of the Presentation Sisters. Their values are hospitality and respect for the dignity of all peoples.
The work of the Presentation Sisters and Lasallian Brothers is supported by the contributions we make. In very real ways, we can support this work to make a difference for a great many in great need.
All students will be given official sponsorship forms to collect donations from family, friends, neighbours and the wider community. The following points may assist you in reaching our target:
- Wear your uniform with pride. If you are seeking sponsorship from people in your neighbourhood, wear your uniform, including your blazer. Be proud to be a student of St John’s Regional College; the people you meet will appreciate and respect this.
- Introduce yourself. Inform the potential donors where you are from. St John’s Regional College is well known in the community and is highly regarded
- Explain what MAD Day is and what it supports. Not everyone will know what Make A Difference Day is. It is important, when asking people to sponsor you, to tell them exactly what the cause is and who it supports. People are more likely to be happy to sponsor you, if they have insight into what MAD Day is about and what it means to attend a school in the Lasallian and Presentation traditions. We Captains will provide you with much useful information to support your requests for sponsorship.
- Believe. Whole-heartedly believe in what you are doing and the change that will occur in someone's life because of your efforts.
On MAD Day we will celebrate with a college liturgy before our fully supervised 8km walk along the Dandenong Creek bicycle path. Students will be dismissed early on MAD Day, with further details provided closer to the day.
This is an excellent opportunity for our students to really make a difference in the lives of a great many people in great need, and truly live the College’s 2021 theme Everything is Interconnected
Yours sincerely,
Maria Hinen and Aiden Cachart
Tiana Amoretti and Kent Mijares
“Love is not patronizing and charity isn't about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same -- with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead.”
Mother Teresa
If you wish to view this letter in pdf