How the 'Sacred Heart six' came to the rescue

Sydney
22 December 2002

Madonna and Christ child by Fra Angelico

Clouds, silver linings and life

Bl Mary in the Eye of the Beholder

Catholic Welfare concern at reforms

Old boys go back to Marist school after 50 years

'Phone home' - a mother's plea

Where do you get it?

What if Egypt's border guards had turned the Holy Family back?

Transport, food need at lunch

Schoolkids deliver petition, armbands and a warning of the plight of kids overseas

Sydney dinner to honour Coptic leader

What do you give a refugee for Christmas?

How the 'Sacred Heart six' came to the rescue

Editorial: Time of prayer, hope

Letters: Euthanasia

Conversation: Stephen Said - pastoral support services co-ordinator - Helping children cope with crisis

Practical tips for the festive season

Roses greet a saint in a year of turmoil

Where Christmas is celebrated every day of the year

How the 'Sacred Heart six' came to the rescue

Pictured are the Rescue team from Sacred Heart Primary School, from left (back): Leon Gretton, Alex Hisco and James Taylor-Moore; (front): Dainan Zimmer, Matthew Burke and Cooper Travis

By Johanna Bennett

It's an old truism that thereis as much pleasure in giving as receiving - something a group of Sydney schoolboys found out for themselves this Christmas.

The boys, from Sacred Heart primary school, Mosman, are a sporty, energetic bunch.

And one of their teachers, Sue Luus, felt they would benefit from having something more meaningful than rough playground games to focus on.

So she came up with Rescue, a simple idea to raise money to help a refugee family enjoy Christmas the Australian way - with money to shop for themselves rather than relying on charity gifts they cannot choose themselves.

Sue suggested that the boys organise a secondhand toy stall to raise money for the family.

The idea so captured the boys' imagination that they ended up raising a whopping $750 for the family described in our story above.

One of the boys, Alex Hisco, said he and the five other boys organised the whole thing from putting up posters around the school and asking and reminding other kids to bring the toys in - videos, soft toys and lots of "chapter books for little kids" - to manning the stall, which "put them under a lot of pressure" but did a lot for Alex's maths.

"I think it was really a good idea," he says. "I have learnt a lot.

"I have grown in my maths and enjoyed doing it because I met more people around the school and feel pretty happy to have helped people," said Alex.

Sue said the boys - from Years 3 and 5 - found it such a positive experience they would like to do something similar next year.

"They are chuffed that they have helped brighten someone else's Christmas and it has been valuable in getting them to think beyond the school walls, to see that they can make a difference to someone else's lives," she says.

"This will allow the (refugee family) to go shopping like everyone else instead of relying on everyone else.

"It is a case of basic human dignity and being able to have the same lifestyle as other Australians."

And Alex's last words? "Good luck to the family," he says, "and have a happy Christmas."