On 8 August every year, we celebrate Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop’s Feast Day
This Feast Day, we’re celebrating 20 years since the launch of Mary MacKillop Foundation and reflecting on the qualities and actions that set Mary apart. She was truly a woman well before her time, with courage that inspires our work to this day!
In 1866, together with Father Tenison Woods, Mary established the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the Josephites), the first religious order to be founded by an Australian. She showed compassion for anyone in need, regardless of race, colour or faith and had reverence for the dignity of others, especially those most neglected from society.
While Mary met people who made it hard for her to perform her good works, she never gave up, and today the Sisters of St Joseph and our Foundation continue the work that she started.
Like Mary, we believe education is the way to improve the lives of vulnerable Australians and we believe what Mary did for others, we still must do.
Three ways to help this Feast Day
We are thrilled and proud to celebrate 20 years of futures transformed, but it’s also timely to remember that more than 1 in 10 Australians still live below the poverty line.
Things could be different if they could access the innovative opportunities only made possible with your support. We simply need to do more. This Feast Day, we urge you to take one of the following actions:
- DONATE online or call 02 8912 2720
- FUNDRAISE for Mary MacKillop Foundation
- APPLY to receive a Community Grant (2017-18 applications close 11 August 2017) or an Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship (2017-18 applications close 31 August 2017)
Feel free to join our Facebook community too!
Why your support is so important
With the help of our donors over the last 20 years, the Foundation has been able to give life-changing support to new generations and spread the certain knowledge that their lives matter, have value and that there is hope for better.
Since 1997, we’ve helped 101 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to graduate from university and we’ve supported 665 community projects in Australia. In 2017, we’ve supported 93 Indigenous tertiary students and 22 community projects. In FY2017 alone, we’ve given over $645,000 to meet the increasing needs of the community. This time of year (August 2017) is exciting for the Foundation, as we’re currently receiving and reviewing applications for our 2017-18 programs!
With your continued support, we can expand the works of the Foundation, to help change lives through education-based community projects and Indigenous Tertiary Scholarships. Read more about our Scholars and Project Partners.
Thank you for your kindness and generosity
With many blessings and heartfelt congratulations from all of us, we wish to say thank you for taking action, just like Mary did, to create a better world for the people of today and the children of tomorrow. We will never stop until every person in the country enjoys equal access to education and opportunity.
May we continue to keep Mary’s dream of a better world alive through this life-changing work, to provide opportunities for those who would not otherwise have them, until (we pray) they’re no longer needed!
P.S. What Mary did for others, we still must do. To help us celebrate our 20th anniversary and Mary’s Feast Day, please donate online or call 02 8912 2720. Together, we can end the disparity of access to education for vulnerable Australians, and create more connected, empowered communities.
Living God,
animating presence in our world,
with gratitude we remember the life of Mary MacKillop,
her influence in our world
and her legacy in our Josephite spiritual homeland.
Inspire us, as her women,
to be fully alive in your mission
and faithfully kind among your people.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, friend of the poor,
and the Spirit, filling us with confidence.
Amen
