Slum children in India will benefit from a “chain of miracles” experienced by a Brisbane Catholic school staff member.
Guidance counsellor at All Saints’ Parish Primary School, Albany Creek, MariaRosa Mallardo said her mother Renee returned to India on November 2 with an extra $650 for the running of the New Horizons Day Care Centre in Calangute, Goa, India, thanks to those miracles.
“On the last Wednesday of term (Term 3), I ran a workshop for parents at school and could never have done it without the assistance of a wonderful group of teachers and support staff,” Ms Mallardo said.
She said the next morning on the way to school she stopped at her usual petrol station to buy chocolates for those teachers and support staff as a thank-you.
“The man behind the counter was intrigued by my buying up his whole stock of (two brands of chocolate bars) and asked me what the story was,” she said.
“When I told him about the help of my colleagues, he excitedly said he loved that story and could he put my name in to the draw to win an enormous hamper of chocolates.”
Ms Mallardo said “yes”, of course, and made a silent vow to raffle the prize for the Indian charity her mother supported.
On the following Monday morning she received a call to say she had won the chocolates.
“So (then) I needed to put my money where my mouth is.
‘Great, I’ll go and buy raffle tickets, immediately after I pick up the hamper’, I thought to myself,” she said.
The next day while picking up the hamper full of chocolate she said she explained to the female employee her plan for the prize.
She was then told the supermarket chain that ran the service station had asked all the petrol stations to do a fundraiser for a charity of their choice.
“(She said) ‘I’ve been looking for a small charity to support, and think this would be a great cause and we can do it when your mum is here so people can meet her and know exactly where the money is going. I’ll talk to my boss and let you know’,” she said.
Ms Mallardo said the end result was a fundraiser at the service station that netted more than $630 for the children’s charity.
Renee Mallardo, who spends five months a year in India helping to run the New Horizons Day Care Centre, said the money would be used to provide extra uniforms for the 32 children aged three to six at the centre.
“We are in the slums and if the children weren’t at New Horizons they would be on the streets,” she said.
“We give them food every day and get them ready for school and because of where they come from their clothes are not the best so we provide them with a uniform.”
MariaRosa Mallardo had nothing but praise and thanks for the teachers and support staff who started what she called a “wonderful chain of miracles”.
“If you don’t believe that your small, good actions can snowball into amazing moments, please believe it now,” she said.
“God bless you.”
