Clancy the Lion met one of the University’s youngest donors, helping people with intellectual disability.
When Faith Kearney turned 10, she knew she wanted to make a difference. That desire led her to donate $200 of her birthday money to help the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health at UNSW deliver better health outcomes for people with intellectual disability.
After her donation, Faith and her family visited UNSW to meet Clancy the Lion and Professor Julian Trollor, Director of the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health.
Professor Trollor said he enjoyed chatting with Faith and her sister Ruby-Moon.
“It was so inspiring to meet Faith and see someone so young so keen to contribute to making the world a better, fairer place. The work of the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health here at UNSW is all about making sure people with intellectual disability have better health outcomes.”
Faith said she decided to donate to the centre because she wanted to help others.
“I wanted to donate my birthday money because I really like helping people, and I think it’s important that everyone is treated the same,” she said.
It wasn’t the first time Faith chose to donate her birthday money.
“Faith has the option every year from her aunty to either donate her money, have an experience, like going to a show or somewhere like Luna Park, or to spend it, and every year without hesitation she donates it,” said Faith’s mother Ashley.
In previous years, Faith has donated to Sydney Children’s Hospital, the Heart Centre for Children at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the NSW Rural Fire Service.
This year, she chose the Centre in Intellectual Disability Health after hearing about its work from her mum.
“I was lucky enough to work with the centre on a recent event. At the end of each day, I would tell my girls about the phenomenal people I met and the amazing things they are doing to make the world a better place. Faith loved the stories and was inspired so much by their actions that she knew she wanted to donate to the centre.
“It truly has been such a beautiful experience to have open conversations with my girls, who are 12 and 10, about some of the negative experiences that some people have, asking them what they think about it and if they believe it’s right or wrong. This is the age, in my opinion, where we can teach our young children about important matters and how we can all do small things that have big impact.”
Main image: Ruby-Moon, Faith and Ashley met Clancy the Lion during their visit to UNSW.
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