”When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. The leadership of ASCON truly personifies this adage”.  This was the opening remarks of the Outgoing Executive Committee President of Auburn Small Community Organisation Network (ASCON) Inc, Dr Cen Amores during the Annual General Meeting of ASCON, held at Alkhalej Restaurant in Auburn on 12 March 2022 at 11;00 am- 1:00 pm.

Dr Cen reported at the AGM that, “ASCON has undergone a very drastic change in 2020- 2021. The world turned upside down due to the unprecedented onslaught of Covid-19 that caused the death of thousands of people, displacement, loss of income, social isolation, stress and anxiety, and many more effects on the mental and physical wellbeing of millions of people worldwide”.

“However, in our strong commitment to support vulnerable people, we at ASCON braved the risk of being infected by the virus and kept ourselves busy, sourcing and applying for funding grants, establishing partnerships and collaborations with other like-minded network of not-for-profit multicultural and charity community organisations, small businesses, churches and individuals who share our common interest and passion for a genuine service to the vulnerable people," she said.

"We also organised two teams of community volunteers to assist at the Oz Harvest Pop-Up Hamper Hub in Granville and at the Auburn Youth Centre’s Empowering Communities Partnership Project with ASCON by providing struggling families in five Local Government Areas in NSW with food hampers.”

Elected to the Executive Committee for ASCON in 2022 – 2023 are:

President:                                      Ghassan Alassadi of Iraqi Renaissance Inc

Vice President                              Ashraf Sedrak of Australian Middle Eastern Association Inc

Secretary                                       Fatma Mohamed of Somali Welfare and Cultural Association

Assistant Secretary                    Yin Lan Ge of NSW Seniors Association Inc

Treasurer                                       Sritharan Kanesarajah of Cumberland Tamil Society Inc

Assistant Treasurer                    Willie Plan of Kapitbahayan Coop and APCO

PRO and Public Officer               Dr Cen Amores of Multicultural Assistance Task For  APCO and KCL

Ruben Amores, Founding President of ASCON, acted as the Returning Officer.  Dr Cen Amores was nominated to the position of the President, but she graciously declined for health reasons.

As a token of gratitude, Certificates of Appreciation were awarded to the very generous and dedicated community volunteers, media representatives, project partners and supporters, who worked tirelessly in support of the various projects and activities of ASCON.

Among the special guests who were also awarded Certificates of Appreciation were: Dean de Haas, CEO of Auburn Centre for Community and project partner of ASCON,  for generously waving payment for the use of the AYC facilities; Violi Calvert, for her support as a journalist-broadcaster of the Australian Filipina digital newspaper and Radio Tagumpay and as volunteer packer for ASCON-and AYC partnership project and Albert Prias, Managing Director of the Filipino Lesbian and Gay Community, APCO Director and artist who designed all the promotional materials for the ASCON and MATF projects and Sastra Pty Ltd’s Arun Arunasalam and Daisy Dang, ASCON Accountant and Bookkeeper respectively. The AGM ended with a free Iraqi lunch.

The following are the highlights of Community Development and Humanitarian Projects that were successfully delivered under the leadership of Dr Cen Amores last year:

 1, Connect to Work - Free Employment Advice – funded by DOOLEYS Lidcombe Catholic Club for $20,000

2.Flavours of Auburn – self-funded from booking payments for Cooking Classes

3. Digital Literacy Partnership Project of Common Equity NSW and ASCON – funded by the NSW Government for $65,000 under its Innovation Grant (about to be rolled out).

4. Multicultural Community Grassroots Emergency Support to Vulnerable Seniors, Migrants and Refugees - funded by the NSW Government for $5,000 under its Covid-19 Community Support Program, 180 households were provided food support

5.Empowering Communities Partnership Project of Auburn Youth Centre and ASCON Funded by the NSW Government for $30,000 with support from Oz Harvest and Goods 360,and 798 food packs were provided  valued between $70 - $80 each pack

6. Collaborative Humanitarian Assistance to Survivors of Typhoons Odette, Maring, Ulysses and Rolly in the Philippines,

7.Organised a volunteer group for Oz Harvest Granville’s Pop-Up Hamper Hub who assisted with the packing food hampers one day a week for four months

8. Organised a volunteer group for Auburn Youth Centre for the Empowering Communities Partnership Project with ASCON by packing food hampers one day a week for three months

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