The small, remote Indigenous community of Santa Teresa in the desert country of the Northern Territory has rallied together to donate food for the New South Wales town of Glen Innes, which was hit hard by the bushfires before Christmas.

Parish Priest of Santa Teresa, Fr Prakash Menezes SVD says the food collection drive was part of the parish’s Advent sacrifice.

“As part of our Advent sacrifice, people were encouraged to buy a few items of extra tinned or packaged food to place under the Christmas tree in the Church,” he says.

“Part of the tradition of our parish is that we decorate the tree as part of a peace prayer. So this year, we added to that tradition, with the request to donate food.”

Four boxes of food were donated and sent to St Patrick’s Parish in Glen Innes.

In November, Glen Innes, located in the Northern Tablelands district of NSW, was at the centre of an unprecedented bushfire emergency which burnt thousands of hectares, leaving three people dead and a community devastated.

Business and homes were destroyed and, The Glen Innes Examiner reports that nearly three months on, much of the communities of Torrington and Wytaliba are still lying in ruins.

Fr Prakash, says the people of Santa Teresa are often “a receiving community”, but on this occasion they were pleased to be able to “be a giving community”.

“The whole town came together for this cause,” he says. “Not just the Aboriginal people, but the whole community, including the Brothers who are here and the teachers and others. But the Aboriginal people themselves responded so generously, including the school children who gathered some food to donate.”

Along with the food parcels they sent a video of the Santa Teresa community, which was produced to support their entry into the Tidy Towns competition last year.

“We thought we would send them the video so they know who we are,” Fr Prakash says. “We were very happy to be able to help the people of Glen Innes during their time of need.”

Meanwhile, the Christmas spirit of the Santa Teresa community was recognised in the national media when ABC News featured their Christmas lights display, which they billed as 'Australia's most remote Christmas lights display'.

PHOTOS

TOP RIGHT: The boxes of food donated by the people of Santa Teresa for those affected by the bushfires in Glen Innes.

BOTTOM LEFT: One of the Christmas light displays in Santa Teresa which received national news coverage.