Sock it to Poverty

Last week, ‘Sock it to Poverty’ was held on both Campuses with a bright and colourful crazy sock day raising $792.40 for Catholic Mission. The Huntingfield assembly and Kingston Mass both had a focus on Catholic Mission and the work they are doing to support people in need in Cambodia, particularly children and young adults with disabilities.

The Parish Youth Group and Huntingfield Vinnies group had prepared for the event by making recycled sock balls from old clothes, socks, polystyrene, plastic bags and string. Mrs Duggan spoke to us in assembly about her experience witnessing children playing with these kinds of recycled balls when she visited Ethiopia. She told of the joy of one child who received a brand-new soccer ball as a gift from her family and how uplifting and life changing that gift was for him and his community. The recycled sock balls were passed around the Huntingfield assembly before being taken to Kingston and used as part of a soccer penalty shoot out with students, staff and celebrity goalie Constable Stephen Bomford. The Kingston students experienced firsthand the difference between their own manufactured soccer balls and the homemade ones. “That was sooooo hard to kick!”, “It’s too tricky!”, and “That’s dodgy!” were some of their responses reminding us how lucky we are to have access to such equipment. May we never take the small things in our life for granted.

Operation Christmas Child

Thank you to all for the wonderful response to this appeal. We were blown away by the support and were able to pack 75 Christmas shoeboxes for children overseas who have never received such a gift in their lives. It was amazing to see the thought and care that the Grade 4 students put into packing each shoebox. As they chose their items, the students considered the age and gender of each recipient and comments like “My little brother would love this one”, “I think this would be a good gift”, and “I wonder what would they like the best?” were shared. Trying to fit everything they wanted to give in to one shoebox was a tricky exercise for some, but the boxes were certainly filled with lots of love.

As we start to get consumed by the commercialism and pressures of Christmas in the western world, it may be useful to pause and consider those who have very different experiences to us. Why not consider a charity gift card such as education or supplies for someone in need (Salvation Army, Care and Oxfam provide some examples), support local by visiting craft fairs or looking to local suppliers and family owned stores or, if you have the time and creativity, consider making your own Christmas gifts this year.

 

Sacramental Program

A reminder that this weekend is the family Reconciliation Preparation Session for children and parents. This will run from 4:00-6:00pm in the Church of Christ the Priest followed by Mass. There will then be a sausage sizzle held for all parishioners and anyone from the College community is warmly invited.

Youth Group

The Kingston-Channel Parish Youth Group is back up and running with the group enjoying finding out about the ‘Saintly side’ of Halloween and then enjoying some traditional Halloween party games. It’s not easy to eat a donut on a string without licking your lips!

We have also been doing more baking for Loui’s Van and next week will be taking part in a ‘Camino de Kingston’, walking a route around the local area based on the world-famous pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago. The Youth Group meets every Wednesday term time in the Sisters of Charity Centre on the Kingston Campus from 4:00-5:30pm. Students, Grade 5 and above,  from any school are welcome to attend. Contact pauline.marriott@catholic.tas.edu.au for more information.