With the planned re-opening of the Queensland borders just before Christmas, many families are busy preparing for a grand festive season.
However, students at Good Shepherd Lutheran College are very aware that there are others in the community who will struggle to find a roof over their head or a warm meal to enjoy and so were very keen to support Youturn Youth Services.
According to Mrs Jansen, head of hospitality at Good Shepherd, the College has always had a servant leadership focus.
“Hospitality students prepare meals that are given to support our college members when the need arises,“ she said.
“When the opportunity to take this initiative to the community was presented, they embraced it.”
Almost 80 delicious home-made meals were provided by the Year 11 hospitality students. These will be used for emergency relief for
people that contact Youturn for support. People may be experiencing temporary or ongoing homelessness, significant financial or personal hardship, or challenging personal circumstances, and these meals provide an opportunity for them to connect with Youturn as an organisation. Over a home cooked meal, people can have a conversation about accessing suitable support.
Youturn provides more than 3000 meals per year to people between the ages of 16 and 25 in the local community.
Head of senior years studies at Good Shepherd Matt Armstrong said, “Caring for the wellbeing of others and engaging in community service is something that Good Shepherd takes very seriously and is purposely included in the learning programs.
“It was great to see how enthusiastic the students were and proud to see how their learning was having a positive effect on those less fortunate in the local community.
“The College is looking forward to further opportunities to engage our students in ongoing service-learning activities like this one, for Youturn as well as other important community services.”
Youturn Youth Services is a not-for-profit that was started 30 years ago to help address youth homelessness in the Noosa region. Since then, the organisation has grown substantially, working with young people and those that support them, expanding their focus to include child safety, mental health, suicide prevention and, of course, homelessness.
If you would like more information on Youturn or would like to donate to this vital service, visit their website at youturn.org.au
