OUR Lady Star of the Sea Terrigal Parish has received $20,000 through the Federal Labor Government’s Stronger Communities Program.
Our Lady Star of the Sea Terrigal Parish will use the funds to purchase a lockable bus shelter for its community bus to mitigate the effects of environmental elements and to avoid vandalism.
Federal Member for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid MP, says the wider parish community will benefit from this support.
“Our Lady Star of the Sea Terrigal Parish will be able to better protect its community bus from the environment and also vandalism”, Dr Reid said.
“The community bus is used for a range of purposes including transporting elderly parishioners to and from mass on the weekend, as well as students from the adjacent Catholic school to nursing homes”.
“I am pleased to see this support will strengthen Our Lady Star of the Sea Terrigal Parish and assist the wider community”, Dr Reid said.
Parish Pastoral Associate at Our Lady Star of the Sea Terrigal Parish, Janette Merrotsy, welcomes the support.
“I wish to thank Dr Gordon Reid MP, our MP for taking the time to meet and present our cheque for the Stronger Communities Programme Grant”, Ms Merrotsy said.
“Thanks to this Federal Government grant of $20,000, our parish will be able to protect the parish bus in a locked bus shed. For the past few years, our bus has been exposed to the elements and has been vandalised while on our property”, Ms Merrotsy said.
“The bus is to some of our elderly, the only way to come to mass on Sunday. It is also used to take our school students on excursions to visit our local nursing homes to cheer up the elderly with a song and some happy smiles”.
The Stronger Communities Program provides not-for-profit organisations with grant funding of between $2,500 to $25,000.