Testimonies
Hope Mission Centre - Australia
Hope Mission delivers hampers to family caregivers.
To celebrate the National Day of Thanksgiving, Hope Mission Centre will go to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead to deliver 'thank you' hampers to family caregivers of chronically ill children. These hampers form part of Hope Mission Centre's 'iCare' initiative, which challenges people to go above and beyond to show people in the community that someone cares for them. "People do care for others but sometimes we get so busy in our lives and we don't create opportunities to express that care," General Manager and Pastor of Hope Mission Centre, Dr David Gunawan says. "iCare gives people that motivation and practical outlet to care for others in a very real way." After hearing about this initiative, Dr Allison Tong, Program Manager of Hope Mission Centre's Enlivening Caregivers (EnCa) program, immediately thought of the family caregivers who attend EnCa activities every fortnight at The Children's Hospital at Westmead. "There are parents spending half a day in hospital three to four times a week looking after their child,” Dr Tong says, “I don’t know how they juggle their other responsibilities such as grocery shopping and cooking meals.” On Friday 28 May, Hope Mission Centre will deliver hampers to family caregivers in EnCa as a token of our appreciation and gratitude for all that they have done. "These family caregivers give so much, yet don't expect anything in return," Allison says. "They are people who really deserve to be acknowledged for their perseverance and the sacrifices they make." Hope Mission Centre would like to thank Coles, Coca-Cola Amatil and Carman's Fine Foods for contributing to the food hampers, and the volunteers who helped to pack and distribute them.