Salvation Army launches Red Shield Appeal

Commissioner James Condon, Nihal Gupta, Dr Geoff Lee and Sheba Nandkeolyar

 

Dr. Geoffrey Lee, MP, Member for Parramatta, launched The Salvation Army’s 2012 Red Shield Appeal to multicultural communities on May 9 in Sydney. In his address, Dr. Lee gave special mention to the various representatives of the ethnic media that attended, respected community leaders, presenters and organisers of the event; Mr. Joseph Assaf ”“ who has personally supported this important initiative for over 15 years ”“ with proud partner Multicall Connexions.

The national target for this year’s Red Shield Appeal is $81.5 million. The doorknock,

which is a major part of the campaign, will be held on the weekend of 19-20 May.

Salvation Army Appeals Director, Major Jeff Winterburn said: “The Red Shield Appeal is vital in enabling us to continue our frontline services. The clients we see are some of society’s most vulnerable people and are coming to us with increasingly complex needs, particularly with financial strain from housing affordability and the increased cost of living.

“We are also seeing more clients than ever before with high levels of stress, anxiety and depression. More worrying is that the prevalence of people presenting at our services who are exhibiting suicidal tendencies is increasing.

“Many people are becoming more and more desperate and are being forced to take dire financial risks in order to stay afloat.

“However, The Salvation Army is uniquely positioned to be able to meet people’s needs on many fronts ”“ we help people find freedom from financial stress, emotional turmoil, loneliness, homelessness, addiction and with so many other issues.”

“More than ever, we need the support of the Australian community to help fund our social services,” said Major Winterburn.

Every year The Salvation Army helps more than one million people. Last year, more than 6,000 people were assisted by The Salvation Army’s migrant and refugee services.

Services specifically catering towards the needs of migrants or people of non-English speaking background include English conversation classes, seniors clubs, job placement services, refugee support including reuniting and advocacy services.

To give to the Red Shield Appeal, please call 13 SALVOS, visit salvos.org.au, donate at any Westpac branch, or post your cheque to PO Box 9888 in your capital city.

For further information regarding The Salvation Army, visit salvos.org.au

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