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St Merkorious is committed to helping in Food Relief Services to those experiencing disadvantages in and around Burwood. We have started the youth volunteering campaign to bring awareness beyond the community and reach every part of NSW where students are helping their mates.  If we get the youth of today to start volunteering, we all will have a brighter tomorrow.

We would like to thank the kind contribution of Burwood Council through their Community grant funding which made it possible for us to produce a video that highlights the importance of youth volunteering and current students efforts in getting involved.

The video will be a youth-initiative – students across Burwood will speak of their experiences, their goals, how volunteering has helped them. The video that helps foster the message of sharing is caring. The students are not only encouraged to just share their bread, but go beyond by its sharing their story, time or donate their time to their passionate cause. It’s a good bonding exercise that will help in creating connections and build lifelong friendships.

More than two in five severely food insecure parents (45%) say their children go an entire day without eating fresh fruit and vegetables at least once a week (Food Bank Report, 2021). We need our youth to be aware of this and build a community that will support one another. It makes them appreciate the good things in their life and bring about positive influence by helping others.

We are a food charity helping schools to introduce programs like breakfast clubs, to help students suffering from lack of food. For less than $500 we ask our donors to provide an average school with breakfast and lunch twice a week.

A similar proportion (43%) of severely food insecure parents say their children go a whole day without eating at least once a week. So, knowing these facts, the youth come forth to volunteer though our charity. The youth are enjoying the process of preparing the food that goes to help people in need, and bond with other mates.

Young kids when exposed to youth volunteering and fundraising develop a lifelong commitment that instills a value of community-mindedness. The video encourages youth to volunteer for the program by creating an awareness campaign.

The campaign was to bring kids together to help each other and find out how good it feels to give and receive help. When kids get involved in community programs, evidence shows they stay committed to service for life. When kids have food security, they have the energy to dream to make their futures bright.

As our Founder and President Paula Nicholas describe, the youth are the leaders of the future who are already doing a great job. The experience they are having in St. Merkorious is life-changing for them as much as it is for our clients.

We appreciate John Faker, the Burwood Mayor, who has consistently supported and cared for our initiatives. He enjoys and lends a helping hand in our food packing and distributing efforts with the youth, and we’re grateful that he gave us the opportunity to feature him in this video to give words of encourage and support to the community. We thank Burwood Council again for helping us advocate for more children to step up and contribute to the community.

We are on a mission to end hunger. Help shape the future of our community and have the whole community get involved.