Eco leaders turn olives into outreach
Schools
Students from Parafield Gardens are harvesting and preserving olives from their school orchard to raise funds for Catholic Charities.
Every year during ‘Mission Week’, students at Holy Family Catholic School, Parafield Gardens, have one thing on their minds – getting creative with activities and stalls to raise money for local charities.
While popular picks include fun options like bubbles, playdough, slime, paper crafts, and cookie stalls, the Year 6 mission leaders took things a notch higher this year.
They launched a unique project that combined care for the planet with service to others: harvesting and preserving black olives from their school orchard to raise funds for Catholic Charities.
“We have these olive trees that bear fruit each season, but most of it falls on the ground and goes to waste. When presented with the twin challenge of reducing food waste and raising money for those in need, the students combined both to find a solution,” said Anthony Terminello, APRIM, who guided the students.
It was a true labour of love. “We’ve spent weeks on this project,” said Sahana Aravind. “First we picked the olives, then sorted and cleaned them. After weeks of salting, drying, and hard work, our tasty olives were finally ready to be shared,” added Viraj Maanju, who along with Emily McFarlane, Scarlett Brown, Natalie Atem, Ramirez Javier, Eerat Kaur Kaura, Celina Antoniadis, Yasmin Jarmakani, Adum Ajak and Declan Bressanelli took charge of the project.
The beautifully packed and labelled olive jars, priced at $5 each, were sold every day of Mission Week between 8.30am and 8.50am at the school piazza. The target customers were mainly parents during school drop-off.
The olive sellers raised $307, which they donated to Catholic Charities, along with $967 from their Mission Day collection, bringing their 2025 donations to $1274.
“This heartwarming initiative reminds us that no act is too small to make a difference,” said Christina Francis, manager, Catholic Charities.
The students have been invited to present their project at the annual Catholic Charities Expo on September 9 in the Cathedral Hall.
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