27.08.2007 – The Parent Infant Foundation Australia (PIFA) has received a $5,000 grant from masoniCare, Freemasonry’s philanthropic arm in NSW and ACT.

PIFA’s Norma Tracey, thanked the Freemasons of Sydney City for nominating the organisation to receive the funding, saying, “It’s very encouraging to receive support from your local community, especially Freemasonry which is known for its commitment to charity”.

PIFA provide a range of services which are designed to assist vulnerable and isolated parents in caring for their children. The $5,000 grant will be used to fund a support program targeting parents from the Inner City of Sydney.

“This program involves establishing a parenting group for vulnerable mothers and will be supervised by trained therapists,” She said.

“The group sessions will run for ten weeks and will cover various topics related to parenting, such as normal infant development as well as accessing community resources,” Norma added.

“The overall aim is to help these mothers become better parents, as these formative years can have a great impact on the wellbeing of a child in years to come,” She said.

Glenn Eley, Masonic Manager for the Sydney City Region, presented the cheque for $5,000 in a special ceremony held at Murawina Child Care Centre in Redfern on Wednesday 22 August.

In presenting the cheque he said, “Parenting is never easy and certain socio-economic factors can make it even harder for some. I’m delighted to be able to lend further support to the great work performed by PIFA, which is our third grant in consecutive years”.

Peter Eden, member of the masoniCare Board, said, “masoniCare’s Regional Grants program is about helping community organisations at a ‘grass roots’ level. We want to help the smaller organisations that are sometimes overlooked in favour of bigger charities with professional fundraising programs”.