A community food night proved to be an exciting demonstration of the benefits of the diversity of Perth recently.
On Friday September 26, Personal Advocacy Service partnered with Infant Jesus Parish Morley and local community members to hold “Hoppers Night” – a fundraising night bringing together people of all ages and abilities to experience cultural diversity through food and dance.
Hoppers are a Sri Lankan-Indian speciality that consist of a bowl shaped rice pancake eaten with curry.
Personal Advocacy Service Director Anabelle May said people of all abilities joined in the fun, food and entertainment.
“The event brought about a deeper awareness of peoples willingness to taste food of traditional Sri Lankan and Indian origin.
“Many of those that attended also got into the mood by dressing in different ethnic clothes and were well entertained by an accomplished classical Indian dancer,” Ms May said.
Bollywood dancers were also part of the event and helped the crowd to join in the dancing.
“Many who attended wanted to know when the next Hopper night was being held and were eager for a little more spice,” Ms May said.
Personal Advocacy Service, an agency of the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, was established in 1989 in response to parents who were seeking ways to enrich the lives of their sons and daughters with intellectual disabilities.
They wanted opportunities for their sons and daughters to be included in community life and valued for the contribution they could make to the local community.
As an organisation it provides a unique type of advocacy that is based on one-to-one relationships between people with intellectual disabilities and volunteers from the local community.
To find out more about Personal Advocacy Service visit www.paswa.org.au.