Buddhist monks travel from Sydney to Lismore with huge gift
A group of Buddhist monks have donated $100,000 to people in Lismore affected by the recent floods - but simply donating the funds wasn’t enough.
The group of monks made the trip from Sydney to Lismore to deliver their cheque in person and posed with Steve Krieg, the Mayor of Lismore, to mark the moment.
“A wonderful group of Vietnamese Buddhist monks from Sydney came to visit last Wednesday, March 30 with a cheque for the flood appeal,” Mr Krieg shared on Facebook.
“They donated $100,000 dollars! Thank you so much for your generosity.”
“You never know who you are going to meet and what absolute blessings that you will get,” Mr Krieg told the ABC. “We went up to the evacuation centre and they met with evacuees and gave them all a small cash donation as well.”
The group of monks aren’t the first to commit such an act of kindness either.
A Sikh group from Melbourne made the trek to Lismore in early March with plenty of food to feed flood victims for eight days.
“Volunteering is a part of Sikh culture. It gives us a higher purpose and meaning. It doesn’t matter if I don’t sleep for a few days, the feeling I get from helping others is pure peace and calmness,” Jaswinder Singh, one of the volunteers involved, told the ABC.
Sikh Volunteers Australia shared plenty of updates about their good work, including details of where locals could find them, and words of thanks to the local volunteers and others who helped them - which were reciprocated by many, including MPs and the NSW Greens.
“We cannot thank you enough for the incredible generosity, selfless (sic) and dedication to always help communities in crisis. The amount of compassion is unmeasurable. Thank you SVA,” the Greens NSW commented on one post.
Image: Steve Krieg (Facebook)