Hair loss during cancer treatment can affect patients in profound ways, because it’s a visual indicator of the challenging situation that they are in.

Pentland State School Chaplain Kieron Jarvis knows this all too well.

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Located just 13 kilometres east of the Queensland and Northern Territory border, there is a small town with a population of about 200 people. Camooweal is its name.

Camooweal was just like any other small town until something incredible happened only a few weeks ago. The town got its first school chaplain!

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As Joshua looks back on his life, the impact of one person stands out. His chaplain.

Joshua Palfi (pictured, left) is now 26 years old, engaged, manages a construction business, and has two beautiful children of his own.

Today Joshua realises the incredible impact his school chaplain has had on his life. Joshua was motivated to track down Chaplain Jason (pictured, right) to say thank you.

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The new regional school chaplaincy initiative, Backing Our Youth, launched in February and it’s now full steam ahead on this exciting campaign.

The Vanderfield team took the chance to join with Mackay High students to launch its Backing Our Youth (BOY) initiative which will see a percentage from every tractor sold across Queensland, in the next six months, supporting programs and projects that build resilience in young Queenslanders.

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One of Chappy Sharon’s considerable passions is helping young people discover their life’s purpose. The wide smile on her face and welling up of tears in her eyes as she talks demonstrates that this is certainly the truth.

And Sharon’s hand in helping former student, Clarissa, find her purpose is one such example of which Sharon is particularly proud.

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An ongoing shortage of chaplains in remote and regional communities means thousands of young Queenslanders are stranded without the vital support of a school chaplain.

Dedicated mother of 10, Desley Kerr is doing her part to fill this void, serving in two primary schools in the mining community of Moranbah in Central Queensland.

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Like many chaplaincy programs, volunteers form the backbone of Chaplain Lindsay Kliendienst’s formerly named Boys and Bikes program over at Aspley State School. Their importance to the success and expansion of his program cannot be understated and Lindsay knows this.

“I’ve had to put a cap of 10 students in each group. If I get more volunteers, I could expand that but I don’t have any more consistent volunteers who can offer to be there every week,” Chaplain Lindsay explains.

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7.00am on a Saturday morning, with the heat starting to rise, CrossFit Moggill’s Head Coach Dean Martin explained stage 1 of 3, to the 168 overly energetic CrossFit competitors.

“50 pistol squats, 100 double unders and then a 200m sprint for each team member – any questions?”

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You are 15 years old, and desperate for someone to talk to so you seek out the school chaplain.

Arriving at the chaplain’s room you walk in, the space is dimly lit. You are hit by the extreme heat of the room due to a lack of insulation. The space is shared by a host of other student support services, including the school police offer, nurse, indigenous support officer, and the youth support worker.

Unsurprisingly, only a handful of Bray Park State High’s 800 students ventured in.

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What does 20,000 cupcakes look like? 1680 eggs, 500kg of flour, 340L of milk and 67kg of sugar.

The extra special ingredient is Rosina Tucker.

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