 The NSW Federation of Community Language Schools Inc has given a helping hand to young Portuguese speakers living in Sydney who are struggling to cope during the Covid Pandemic, says community leader Mr Warren Duncan.
The Federation has provided groceries and a one-hundred-dollar shopping card for purchases in Woolworths to seventy young people in need, under the Portuguese Community Support Program. The program is supported by the New South Wales Government and Multicultural NSW under the Covid 19 Community Support Program. The Federation also is grateful to Woolworths for the provision of additional shopping cards. The President of the Federation, Lucia Johns, who handed out the assistance at the organisation’s headquarters in Dulwich Hill, said today: “Many of these young people are hidden victims of the pandemic. Their financial situation has become exceedingly difficult as a lot of casual work around the city dries up. “As a Brazilian-born Australian I have a particular affinity with the Portuguese speakers, who are mostly natives of Brazil, and I am therefore able to hear their concerns very clearly. The fact that dozens of young people turned up very early at our office to seek assistance tells me they have a great need for support. “We hope to be able to extend our help to other language groups with the support of the NSW Government and Multicultural NSW” she said. The Acting Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans, Dr Geoff Lee, thanked the Federation for providing “much-needed support to people experiencing hardship” and for “going above and beyond in this unprecedented time” The Federation Chief Executive Officer, Michael Christodoulou AM, said: “We are able to provide this relief through the good will of the NSW Government which recognises that young people can easily find themselves isolated and in need.” The NSW Federation of Community Language Schools Inc was established in Sydney in 1978 as a not for profit organization, to sustain community languages and contribute to the multicultural assets of New South Wales. It now represents 250 member schools in 460 locations with approximately 40,000 students learning the 85 different languages available. |
NSW Community Language Federation Helps Portuguese Speaking Youths
