Record Number of Aussie Grant Recipients

The Mary MacKillop Foundation has announced a record number of recipients of 12-month grants for “small life changing projects”, supporting community-based initiatives across Australia.

Every year the Mary MacKillop Foundation helps more than 40 community projects throughout Australia by providing grants of up to $10,000 each.

This year, the Foundation provided more than $500,000 in grants and almost doubled the number of grants given in response to an increase in the emergence of projects providing crucial assistance to those in need.

“Heading into 2014, community goodwill projects are seeing an increase in the needs to be met, but not necessarily an increase in financial support,” CEO of the Mary MacKillop Foundation, Sam Hardjono, said.

“As part of our commitment to never see a need without doing something about it, we have dramatically increased the number of grants that we have given to the small life changing projects that are making a big difference on the ground, but often slip through the cracks in terms of receiving funding and support.

“The Mary MacKillop Foundation has the responsibility of continuing the legacy of Australia’s first saint, and we do it in a practical way.

“Our mission is to meet needs in a way that restores self-reliance and human dignity, and we believe that much more can be accomplished by supporting small community-based projects that are already making a great difference.

“This year’s grants alone directly benefitted more than 23,000 people and the number will increase in 2014. In the next 10 years, the Mary MacKillop Foundation will be able to touch the lives of over 300,000 people nationally.”

Some of the grants include:

• The Adult Literacy Project: The Adult Literacy Project is a small but life changing project which directly benefits Indigenous young adults, as well as older men and women who have had limited schooling. The project’s aim is to help Indigenous people living in the remote communities of Jigalong and Punmu in the Martu country of Western Australia to improve their reading, writing and mathematics skills. The project emphasises community engagement and Indigenous self-determination.
• Life Skills for disAbility: The Life Skills for disAbility project is a collaboration between Sunnyfield, an association which supports people with disabilities, and the Macquarie Community College (MCC), a specialist in special needs courses. The partnership will see the development and delivery of a series of accredited life skills training courses for people with disabilities.
• Refugee Children United by Language, Literacy and Learning: The Refugee Children United by Language, Literacy and Learning program supports the development of English literacy among refugee children, increasing their ability to have a positive educational experience. It recruits and trains teachers, social workers and speech pathologists who are allocated to assist at primary and secondary schools with high numbers of refugee students. It will have a powerful impact on the future outcomes of the program participants and their communities, reducing poverty and other forms of social disadvantage.