Whanganui's St James' Church giving hope to South Sudan

Tess Maryatt paints Olive Maryatt's face at the St James' Church gala on Saturday. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

St James' Church gala raised $3300 for refugees in South Sudan.

The gala was held at the Whanganui East church on Saturday.

Organiser Mo Morgan said it was not the church that did the fundraising: "We just provided the space for the fundraising to happen - but it was the community making donations," she said.

Rev Morgan said there had been a steady stream of people at the gala all day.

"It was lovely to have a sunny day for it. We had quite a few people drop in after their Saturday sport, and lots of young families. We also had a group walk down from the Masonic Court rest home, and they had a cup of tea and stayed for a while.

"There was a lovely community feel to it."

Rev Morgan said church members had decided to do something to help the desperate situation in South Sudan. Like most of eastern Africa, South Sudan is suffering from a serious famine, but this has been compounded by an unstable political situation. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and are facing starvation.

"There's a real willingness in our community to offer something to those people in need - you just have to make it happen."

Rev Morgan said all the money raised from the gala would be donated to South Sudan through TEAR Fund.