GOOD REPORTS IN A CRISIS-RIDDEN WORLD

In the midst of a news cycle of bad reports and the unknown anxiety of what is to come, we wanted to share a handful of the good stories emerging from this season of uncertainty, times when we got to be the church in action in our community this week.

EASTER DELIVERIES

With Easter Services online this year, some of the deliveries of Easter eggs that were not cancelled on time gave us the opportunity to be able to bless the selfless and hardworking health care professionals in our community. Our teams in NSW and the Gold Coast dropped them off at key hospitals to show our appreciation and support for those sacrificing so much to keep us safe.

One company donated face masks to specifically distribute to those caring for vulnerable groups in our community. We were able to pay those forward to Foodbank Queensland when they put an urgent call out for masks to enable their teams to pack and deliver food. Foodbank Queensland has partnered with CityCare over the years to provide food supplies for our Emergency Relief services in the Gold Coast, so it was a pleasure to be able to give back to this remarkable food relief organisation.

QUARANTINE CARE

A mother and her two small daughters had arrived on a flight back from Brazil after visiting family and were on their way back to their home in Melbourne. Due to quarantine restrictions they had to go straight to quarantine at a hotel in Sydney. Our team from Waterloo were able to take a pack of toys and colouring books and deliver it to the hotel reception for the family to help keep the children entertained.

FOOD RELIEF FOR THE VULNERABLE

Partnerships enable us to accomplish more in our communities than we could ever do on our own. The Gold Coast Convention Centre’s Executive Chef cooked hundreds of frozen meals to distribute to those in need within the community. They partnered with CityCare to generously donate these delicious meals for us to distribute to individuals and families struggling in this crisis. Generously donated food items and online donations from our church, enabled our teams to meet the increased demands for food and household essentials.

One of the more concerning reports emerging during this global pandemic is the rise of  domestic and family violence which is putting enormous pressure on the shelters around the country.  Our teams have been delivering food hampers to local DFV shelters to help them through this crisis. In the Gold Coast were able to deliver 60 meals donated by the Gold Coast Convention Centre to one of these shelters.

SCHOOL SUPPORT

With our CityCare Youth Program activities in schools on hold for the time being, some schools contacted us to see if we could provide practical support to families in their school doing it tough. Our team were able to respond and have been doing Emergency Relief hamper drop offs to these schools.

The reality for many families is extremely bleak in this season and some students have been too embarrassed to tell their peers they don’t have toilet paper or that their families are struggling without the basic necessities. Other students are going to school with no food to eat. Our teams have been able to help stock school pantries with single supplement snacks and foods for School Chaplains and Wellbeing teachers to give to children coming to school hungry.

As the restrictions continue to remain in place, our team has discovered that even in the hardest of times there is good news to find, compassion and generosity can prevail, and we can each play our part and continue to spread kindness to a world in need.

If you would like more information about our COVID-19 Response and/or practically support the work, we are doing in the community in this season you can do so via this link:

hillsong.com/citycare/covid-19-response