A huge thank you to everyone who wrote beautiful cards and donated masks and sanitiser to Dubbo’s Anglicare in the Bathurst Diocese. You are wonderful.
In early September, The Reverend Sarah Plummer brought to the attention of our beautiful Diocese the high number of cases of COVID-19 in Dubbo and the local Anglicare’s urgent need for masks for people attending their service. Our diocese quickly mobilised to support the local Anglicare service, the Bathurst Diocese, Dubbo Anglican Church and Indigenous leader Cyrena Harris with this initiative. Bishop Mark and Monica contacted Mother’s Union and other groups and people about the need:
Dearest friends,
Re: Urgent request for sewing masks for our brothers and sisters in the Bathurst Diocese. Could you please make masks that are attractive for families, ie adults and children?
Can you help with sewing and donating masks for people who are having problems accessing them, please? Cyrena Harris, a First Nations woman who lives in Dubbo, is leading an initiative of creating care packs for people in her area who either cannot afford marks and sanitiser or cannot access them due to supply problems. The packs include masks, hand sanitiser, and correct information about testing and vaccination. The Dubbo Anglican Church and the local Anglicare are supporting this important and urgent initiative. The Anglican Church at Dubbo and Anglicare would appreciate donations of homemade masks. To ensure the masks are as effective as possible it is important to follow the Australian Government instructions on how to make a cloth mask, which can be found at https://www.health.gov.au/ resources/publications/how-to-make-cloth-mask.
The aim is to help everyone stay healthy. With this in mind, could you please ensure the material used is clean and has not been used for other purposes and also that you are healthy and your hands are sanitised/ cleaned every time you touch the masks? Please mail the masks directly to:
Anglicare, PO Box 141, Dubbo NSW 2830. Mailing directly your donated masks to Anglicare will ensure there is no delay in the people who need them receiving them. Thank you for your generous donations and willingness to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
God bless you and thank you.
Reverend Sarah Plummer, Executive Manager Mission and Culture – Anglicare, Bishop Mark Short and Dr Monica Short, Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn.
Anglicare Prayer
God grant us the compassion to care deeply for others, the wisdom to discern how best to help, the energy to transform emotion into action and the joy of wholehearted loving service. For Christ’s sake, Amen.
Bible Verse
Phil 1: 3-6
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Sarah, Mark and Monica are amazed and thrilled by the wonderful response, as shown in the picture above. God is good. It is not too late to make and send a mask to Dubbo. Bless you and thank you to everyone who responded. You are pure blessing. We love our Diocese.
