They came. They ran. They conquered Heartbreak Hill to raise hope for young mums in distress.
More than 50 intrepid young joggers completed the annual City2Surf fun run last Sunday as part of Team Sydney Catholic Youth to support CatholicCare’s HOPE Program.
They represented groups and parishes from around the archdiocese including Marist Youth Ministry, St Patrick’s parish Church Hill, All Saints’ parish Liverpool, St Francis Xavier’s parish Lurnea, St Joseph’s parish Hunters Hill, and St Bernadette’s parish Carlton.
The two agencies of the Sydney archdiocese formed the team as part of their efforts to raise $75,000 for the Hope program which supports disadvantaged 16-25 year old women who are pregnant or have a child under two years old.
Sydney Catholic Youth team leader Chris Lee praised the 54 young people who joined the team and led fundraising in their own communities in the lead-up to the big day.
“These kinds of events give young people a chance to connect with each other in support of important initiatives such as CatholicCare’s program with vulnerable young mums.
“It’s great to see that with all the differences we have in the community and the Church it’s great to see the next generation of our young people uniting to break the cycle of poverty in this way.”
Ashleigh Green, community engagement co-ordinator, said it was a day of fantastic community spirit.
“People put a lot of effort into fundraising before the day, and it was great to see people from different parishes, groups and individuals come together for a good cause.”
Merwyn Monteiro, youth co-ordinator at St Francis Xavier parish, Lurnea, said he is still sore from the 14km effort but that it was totally worth it.
“They tell you about Heartbreak Hill, but they don’t say anything about the hill after it,” he said.
“But it was a wonderful day and it’s such a good cause to support young women of Sydney who are looking for direction and understanding at a challenging time.”