1582 AUL Salesian honoured for work with street children
austraLasia 1582

Australia honours Salesian for work with street children

SYDNEY: 13th June 2006 --  Fr Chris Riley yesterday became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), the third Salesian in fact to receive this honour over the years (the other two being Fr Francis Moloney, current Provincial, and Bro James Hamilton - also of Sydney).  Monday 12th June was the annual Queen's Birthday official holiday in Australia, which remains a member of the British Commonwealth of nations.  The honours given out each year on this occasion are part of a system devised in Australia for Australians, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as Head of State, officially inaugurated the system on 14th February 1975.  The Order of Australia is the pre-eminent means of recognising outstanding achievement and contribution by Australians - its insignia is inspired by and based on the wattle blossom, one of Australia's characteristic blooms.
    In Fr Riley's case the citation is "for his services to disadvantaged youth through the establishment of Youth Off The Streets and the development of a range of assistance and mentoring initiatives for adolescents, and to the welfare of children overseas through humanitarian assistance efforts".  His single-minded dedication to these causes over many years has brought him into contact with thousands of abandoned youngsters on Sydney's streets, but the work has gradually extended to other areas and, since the Asian Tsunami, to Australia's near neighbours.  He is currently in East Timor seeing to distribution of a shipment of foodstuffs - though not in Dili.  The YOT's work (Youth Off the Streets) has won backing from a number of significant personages in the political and commercial arena.  When asked for his reaction to yesterday's award, to its motivating force for him, he replied: "There's no need for incentives with me.  The kids are incentive enough, their smiles and just seeing....you know, helping them deal with their poverty and their misery".
   
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