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Donation hits the right key at CatholicCare’s Refugee Hub

More than 100 laptops are ready to find a new home after a generous donation to CatholicCare’s Refugee Hub.

Elizabeth Symington August 08, 2023

After hearing about their incredible work and seeing the impact firsthand, the Hunter Christian School decided to upcycle their students’ old laptops to help those who are going without.

“We wanted to make a difference and we've got a couple of students that are connected to the hub at our school and as we were upgrading our computers, we wanted the [old ones] to have a purpose,” Executive Principal Simon Herd said.

“This is a perfect avenue for a community that might not be able to access technology efficiently and effectively and we think it's a great way to bless others.

“For a school like ours where one of our core values is to be community contributors, it's particularly exciting to see that these families that don't have the resources have an opportunity to have that gap closed a little bit by something as simple as a computer.”

He adds the students at the school are excited to have an impact.

“They're really happy to see that it's going to be valued and make a difference for people in their own age group,” Simon explained.

“It’s showing them how we connect with the community and how we support those that are struggling.

“It is particularly important for our young people to see that mission happens by acts of service.”

Refugee Hub Team Leader Mirja Colding-Moran is incredibly grateful for the support. 

“These laptops will mean a lot to our students and families because we often have very large families with multiple kids who are all at school and it’s very expensive to provide a laptop for each one,” she said.

 “They're definitely going to be put to very good use both at school and for homework, and also for applying for jobs, applying for rentals for the adults, too, or engaging in TAFE courses and things like that.

“We’ve given one out already to a young lady who is about to start her studies in disability support, and she was super grateful because she didn't have a laptop and was going to do her study on her phone, which would have been really difficult.”

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