On Friday 16 May we celebrated Make a Difference (MAD) Day, La Salle College’s day to celebrate the legacy of our founder St John Baptist de La Salle and how we belong and participate in that legacy here in Middle Swan. As a community, we draw inspiration from the life of St John Baptist de La Salle, whose dedication to education and service changed countless lives. As we celebrate his legacy, we also recognise the unique gifts and talents that each of us brings to our school community.
We started the day with a whole school Mass, celebrated by Fr Rodrigo. During the Mass Fr Rodrigo welcomed Executive Director of Catholic Education Western Australia, Mr Wayne Bull for a special blessing. Mr Bull has made a remarkable difference to our College, so it was truly fitting that he joined for us on Make A Difference Day. From his time here as a student, where he served as Head Boy, to his tenure as a Principal, his service to La Salle College is truly something to be commended.
After Mass, students rolled up their sleeves to run a variety of stalls and activities to raise vital funds for a water filtration project in a city called Gujranwala, Pakistan. The city is in the Punjab province and is the fifth biggest city in Pakistan, with around two million people. Gujranwala is also where one of our Lasallian partner schools is, St Jospeh’s. Last year we raised money for a toilet block in St Joseph’s and this year we raised money to build a water filtration unit.
Once stall activity wrapped up, participating students took to the stage to show their amazing music and dance skills in La Salle’s Got Talent. We are incredibly proud of the generosity and Lasallian Spirit that our students and staff displayed across this year’s MAD Day. The day is a reminder that we all have the power to make a difference to others’ lives and help the communities that need it the most.
As a College we raised an estimated $15,000! Thank you to everyone in our community who donated to our Make a Difference Day cause.
One of our biggest fundraisers was led by Mr Suneeth Fernandez, Bridgid House Coordinator. His Beard Fundraising initiative was a hit on the day thanks to the help of so many donations from staff and students.
He explained what MAD Day meant to him:
“MAD Day is the wonderful avenue between celebrating what makes La Salle such a great College and giving back to our greater international Lasallian Community. The joy and energy MAD Day brings, from the lead up and preparation of stalls, to the day itself when the effort and planning comes to an exciting fruition, all makes this day so memorable. But what makes it so meaningful to me is the realisation that everything our College raises goes to help a sibling community that is lacking is something we take for granted.”
“The beard has been a staple of appearance for 8 years. We started off with an ambitious $1,000 as the higher limit at which the whole beard would be shaved, and fundraising took place during MAD Day itself. The fact that the generosity of staff and students exceeded this amount in such a limited time was amazing! It was also terrific leadership by Talia T and Ms Lake and students of G02 in running the fundraiser. To me this was especially profound, as it became such a personal contribution towards assisting a fellow Lasallian community in need.”
“We ended up raising $1,274! All thanks to the generosity of staff and students, we raised well over the expected amount and the shave was very well deserved.”
