By Emilie Ng
BEENLEIGH parishioner Betty Graver has high hopes for her next mission trip to India where she plans to put smiles on 65 child orphans’ faces.
Ms Graver is planning next year to visit the Blessed Mother Teresa Home for orphans aged three to 14 in Adilabad, India.
The home is run by the Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament.
Beenleigh’s parish priest and Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament Father Joseph Kanatt asked Ms Graver last year to work with their order’s orphanage in India.
She is the first person to set up an affiliated Australian charity to support the Blessed Mother Teresa Home.
Ms Graver said it was the right time to be on mission under a Catholic organisation.
The 81-year-old has worked with evangelical charity organisation Mamre International visiting and assisting the poor in India for the past 10 years.
“I’ve always thought that God wanted me to help those who were worse off than myself,” Ms Graver said.
“When I turned 70, I thought there must be something I can do.”
She has been to India five times since turning 70, and raised more than $30,000 for Mamre.
“I always say God has given me strength because I work for Him,” Ms Graver said.
“I feel great.”
Ms Graver said she loved helping children in orphanages because it was where she started her life in England.
She has organised a breakfast in July at St Joseph’s Tobruk Memorial School,Beenleigh to raise money for her charity and for travel costs to India.
The charity has already sent $5000, given to Ms Graver by a donor in Wishart, to the orphanage this year.
She has also received donations from Tasmania, but she said more was needed to provide essentials for the children.
Among the needs were funds to pay for schooling equipment, extra computers, support for drinking water, funding for a chapel, and day-to-day running expenses.
“They are in such great need,” Ms Graver said.
She also asked for travel companions, and for someone to film her next trip.
Ms Graver said she would also be grateful for any food donations of bacon or eggs for the breakfast.
The fundraising breakfast will be held on July 20 starting at 8am at St Joseph’s Tobruk Memorial School Hall in Beenleigh, and entry is $10.
For more information about the breakfast or the Blessed Mother Teresa Home charity, phone Ms Graver on 0439 791 133.
