Sam Hardjono Do Good Deeds Interview

Sam Hardjono Do Good Deeds Interview

In a fun, new and unique initiative, Aussies will be able to dare one another to do good deeds in their communities, while raising money for community-based charitable projects.

The concept is simple and gives people an incentive to tap into the Aussie spirit of helping others. Participants either commit to do a good deed themselves, or support someone else's good deed, and at the same time raise money for small community-based charitable projects that are making a big difference. And for those who need a little more encouragement to do a good deed, their friends can all dare them to do so through the website and social media!

Do Good Deeds is part of the Mary MacKillop Foundation's national Green and Gold Day appeal and dares people to 'never see a need without doing something about it", by challenging themselves and their friends to perform acts of kindness in their communities.

Even the smallest of good deeds will have a big impact, as all the support each of the -do gooders' receive will go beyond the initiative to support small community-based charitable groups that are making a big difference.

The Governor of NSW, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, launched the project at the Mary MacKillop Foundation's recent Annual Fundraising Dinner, saying, 'One of the greatest things any of us can do in life is to reach out and do a good deed for another human being, and this is a chance to realise the national scope of just that.

'I encourage you all to identify someone in need in your local community and as St Mary MacKillop said 'do something about it' by challenging yourself or a friend to do a small act of kindness and inspire more good deeds."

The challenge works in two ways: either you dare someone to do a good deed, or you dare someone to donate to the good deed you are doing. Once the deeds are nominated, donations can be made online.

Deeds can be as simple as offering to pay for a stranger's coffee, donating books to a children's hospital, washing a friend's car, or helping an elderly person with their grocery shopping. However, it pays to be creative, so participants are encouraged to have fun with the project by thinking outside the box, such as committing to sing at a nursing home.

Sam Hardjono, CEO of the Mary MacKillop Foundation, says, 'The Mary MacKillop Foundation hopes that by Australians doing their own good deeds through this new initiative, they not only realise their community imprint but also the fact that they are the forerunners of a flow on effect where even more good deeds will be funded.

'Everyone plays an important part in developing a groundswell of support for -do gooders' to fulfil their dares – a reflection of the Mary MacKillop Foundation's ongoing work to support life-changing community charity projects across the country."

Registrations for the Do Good Deeds challenge are now open, and can be made at greenandgoldday.org.au/do-good-deeds-home

Donations will support to small community-based charitable projects that are already making a great difference, to enable them to meet even more needs. This is part of the Mary MacKillop Foundation's mission to continue the legacy of Australia's first saint by giving grants of up to $10,000 each to small community-based projects that are dedicated to assisting those who are less fortunate than them or in need of a helping hand.

Sam Hardjono, CEO of the Mary MacKillop Foundation said, 'Aussies are generous people and all across Australia there are small community-based projects that are dedicated to assisting those who are less fortunate than them or in need of a helping hand.

The Mary MacKillop Foundation has the responsibility of continuing the legacy of Australia's first saint, and we do it in a practical way. Our mission is to meet needs in a way that restores self-reliance and human dignity, and we believe that much more can be accomplished by supporting small community-based projects that are already making a great difference."

Interview with Sam Hardjono

Question: Where did the inspiration and idea for the Green and Gold Day initiative come from?

Sam Hardjono: The Mary MacKillop Foundation wanted to come up with an initiative that encouraged people to 'never see a need without doing something about it", as inspired by the mission of Australia's first saint, St Mary MacKillop.

The initiative that we came up with is called Do Good Deeds and is part of our national Green and Gold Day appeal and dares people to do good deeds and also support the good deeds of others.


Question: Can you explain what the initiative and the main aim?

Sam Hardjono: Do Good Deeds is a fun initiative where Aussies can dare one another to do good deeds in their communities, while raising money for community-based charitable projects.

You can either commit to do a good deed, support someone else's good deed, or dare a friend to do a good deed the website and social media!

Even the smallest of good deeds will have a big impact, as all the support each of the -do gooders' receive will help fund grants for small community-based charitable groups that are making a big difference.

The main aim is to raise donations that will support small community-based charitable projects that already making a great difference and that will enable the Mary MacKillop Foundation to meet even more needs in a practical way.


Question: What do you hope participants take away from the challenge?

Sam Hardjono: The Mary MacKillop Foundation hopes that by Australians doing their own good deeds through this new initiative, they not only realise their community imprint but also the fact that they are the forerunners of a flow on effect where even more good deeds will be funded.

Everyone plays an important part in developing a groundswell of support for -do gooders' to fulfil their dares – a reflection of the Mary MacKillop Foundation's ongoing work to support life-changing community charity projects across the country.

I also hope that they can experience how doing a good deed does not just benefit the recipient, but is also satisfying for the -do gooder'. The aim of this initiative is not just to help support community-based charitable groups, but also to give Australian the motivation to do even more good deeds in their everyday lives. Often the smallest things make the biggest difference.

Question: What types of dares do you hope to see during the initiative?

Sam Hardjono: Anything within imagination! Deeds can be as simple as offering to pay for a stranger's coffee, donating books to a children's hospital, washing a friend's car, or helping an elderly person with their grocery shopping.

However, it pays to be creative, so participants are encouraged to have fun with the project by thinking outside the box, such as committing to sing at a nursing home. The more creative your good deed or dare, the more it encourages others to get on board in supporting good deeds.


Question: What dares have you already had to do or asked others to do?

Sam Hardjono: We already have a number of Good Deeds underway:

Help the elderly: Paul Caesar hopes to raise $20 to help two elderly people navigate form filling with Centrelink and taxation returns;

A Cappuccino A Day: Someone hopes to raise $200 by making cappuccinos for everyone in her office!

Carpentry For Good: John Buttle from hopes to raise $500 by encouraging others to join him and other members of the Mosman Men's Shed to make therapeutic platforms for children undergoing therapy for club feet.

Dance Class for Kids with a Disability: Natalie Sykes is challenging herself to offer her services to teach four dance classes to kids with intellectual disabilities, and hopes to raise $500.

My Good Deed is that I will be hosting a BBQ for the volunteers of the Josephite Community Aid to thank them for their incredible work with refugees and asylum seekers.


Question: What small community-based charitable projects will be supported through the donations?

Sam Hardjono: The Mary MacKillop Foundation gives grants of up to $10,000 each to small life-changing projects that are dedicated to assisting those who are less fortunate than them.
This year we are giving grants to 73 projects. A selection of these projects can be viewed on our website at https://www.mackillopfoundation.org.au/support-a-project/, where people can make a donation to as well. Some of the projects that the Foundation are supporting are:

A unique sensory garden to be built for WA school children who experience limited movement, are vision impaired or blind-deaf.

General knowledge of what contributes to our physical health and well-being is rare in many Indigenous communities. To address this need, the Foundation is giving $7,000 to the Nutrition, Health and Fitness Units of the Maslow Program in QLD. This project will educate Indigenous male youth from the Cairns community on how they can maintain a healthy diet and establish healthy fitness programs. It is foreseen the project will encourage these young people to educate their family and friends to make wiser food choices and to be more active in their day-to-day lives.

The Asylum Seeker Welcome Centre helps over 4000 every year. They provide a shared community dinner and weekly lunch with computer classes. The Foundation helps fun the Tuesday dinners which not only provide a meal, but an opportunity for social involvement and active participation in the community, as well as training in meal preparation, food handling and storage and English language development.

The Mary MacKillop Foundation is donating $4,000 to the Roomies Artspace Workshop in NSW to fund a series of three creativity and art workshops for marginalised people living with mental illness and those with developmental disabilities.


Question: Can you provide more information about The Mary MacKillop Foundation?

Sam Hardjono: The Mary MacKillop Foundation continues the legacy of Australia's first saint, St Mary MacKillop, by supporting small life changing projects that provide relief from suffering, distress, poverty, destitution, misfortune and helplessness.

Since 1995, the Mary MacKillop Foundation has funded 460 small life-changing projects, responding to the needs of rural and isolated communities, indigenous groups and people with disabilities. It has also funded Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Tertiary Scholarships for over a decade with encouraging results. 1 in 25 Indigenous Australian doctors were funded and mentored by the program.

The Mary MacKillop Foundation is an organisation of the Sisters of St Joseph, the congregation that St Mary MacKillop founded in 1866.


Question: How can Australians get involved with this initiative?

Sam Hardjono: You can either commit to do a good deed, support someone else's good deed, or dare a friend to do a good deed through the website and Facebook and/or Twitter.

Just go to http://www.greenandgoldday.org.au/do-good-deeds-home/


Interview by Brooke Hunter