We have had many successful social justice initiatives so far this year. Here are a few highlights:
Shrove Tuesday, celebrated on 21 February, is the day before Ash Wednesday and is observed in many Christian countries through many ways, however MSJ observed this day by eating pancakes and other sweets. A Pancake stall was run over the course of two days to help us fundraise for Caritas' Project Compassion.
The Pancake stall that we held allowed us to raise $862.80!!
SAG, standing for Social Action Group, is a group we have here at MSJ that allows students who are passionate about social justice issues to help us get our school involved by working on projects and brainstorming fundraising strategies. We have worked with these passionate students by fundraising projects, implementing our ideas and raising awareness about issues around the school.
In June, MSJ ran an Op Shop and a Food drive. We were able to get the school involved in donating to this op shop and canned foods to the food drive.
We were able to raise a whopping $862.80 from our op shop!
The Issue of the month is a specific issue that is chosen every month for the social justice portfolio to increase awareness around the school.
This is aimed to raise awareness in our MSJ community about these issues. We take these as an opportunity to also give students some strategies they can use to help fight social injustices.
We are very proud of the efforts of our MSJ community to address social justice issues and to make a change.
The sustainability portfolio has been very busy preparing for Feast Day. For the first time, MSJ's Feast Day celebrations featured Earth Team's very own Farmer's Market selling handmade postcards from 100% recycled paper, dried herb bundles, surprise seed packets, stickers/prints, strawberry plants, hydroponic avocado saplings, organic beauty products, knitted bookmarks as well as muffins and other baked goods with produce from our garden.
JJAMM Week's Monday celebrations spotlighted Father Julian Tenison Woods' dedication to the environment and our responsibility as stewards of creation. With no lights or heating, students were allowed to be as 'snug as a bug in a rug' participating in various activities throughout the day including MSJ's pledge tree, Pot a Plant and our nude lunch competition! With just one day without heating or lighting and we were able to save 86% of the energy we would have used on any other school day. Our actions together prove that while our single actions may seem insignificant in the big picture, together we can make a huge difference.
Throughout this year, the sustainability portfolio has strived to engage the whole school community and increase turnout to our activities. With more new, excited and dedicated members every week, it is safe to say MSJ is getting greener by the minute!
By Zoha Talpur - Sustainability Leader
