Waterhen Supports a Call to Greatness
28 April 2010
In the lead up to ANZAC Day, there was no better time and no better way to inspire young Australians to be great than on Call to Greatness (C2G) Day where the Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Waterhen hosted the inaugural national Call To Greatness campaign on a mission to help young Australians.
Launched on the deck of HMAS Gascoyne, more than 100 Naval personnel, cricket’s Burt Cockley, Qantas Wallabies Stirling Mortlock, students from Dulwich High School of Visual Arts and Design, Luke Jacobz (Home and Away) and Blue MC of the Potbelleez came together to sing the Call to Greatness song in the hope of inspiring support for this unique community fundraising initiative to help young Australian’s in need.
Founder of Call to Greatness Day, Carolyn Managh said, “In the lead-up to ANZAC Day, there is no better time to ignite the extraordinary energy of Australian youth, and to call on them to be great and give a one-off donation of $5 that will help improve the lives of many young Australian’s in need."
C2G aims to raise millions of dollars to support the good work of four organisations including Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Streets, KidsXpress, Musicians Making a Difference and ReachOut.com.
Commanding Officer of HMAS Waterhen Jason Sears said, “Our Welfare Committee came up with the idea of getting involved in the day with everyone at Waterhen quick to volunteer support. The morning was great fun and the words from Margo Ward (KidsXpress) made us realise how lucky many of us are. They certainly inspired some loud singing and active dancing!”
Margo explained that, in 2010, on any given night some 34,000 Australians under the age of 18 will find themselves homeless. Kids and young adults will be bullied at school or feel the harsh reality of domestic violence. Many will be subjected to physical or sexual abuse and neglect, suffer trauma, depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, discrimination, loneliness, self doubt and purposelessness; and others will experience mental health problems that tragically can lead to suicidal thoughts.
Qantas Wallaby Stirling Mortlock who sang the Call to Greatness song loud and clear said, “I’m really proud to be part of such a fantastic, unique initiative that is helping to empower our youth. $5 is such a great place to start toward raising money to improve the lives of young Australians, and if we all get behind it, in time it will grow to have a significant and meaningful impact on our young people.”
Waterhen aims to continue its association with C2G and is already discussing ways that sailors can become positive role models for some of the children helped by KidsXpress. If you're interested in seeing how the team sounded and looked on C2G Day visit www.calltogreatness.com.au
