St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria Inc. Newsletter 243 January-February 2010A

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FF B l a c k S a t u r d a y | O n e y e a r a f t e r t h e f i r e s

Sunday 7 February 2010 marked the first anniversaryof Australia's most devastating natural disaster whenfierce bushfires swept across the State, causingunprecedented damage. This day has become knownas Black Saturday.

In the year following the tragic bushfires, the St Vincentde Paul Society has been engaged in significantrecovery work on the ground, the financial value of whichexceeds $3.5 million.

Over the course of the last year, the St Vincent de PaulSociety has responded to the Black Saturday tragedy ina range of ways.

The Vinnies Victorian Disaster Appeal was mounted. By the end of the first day of the appeal $44,920 in donations had been processed and by the end of the appeal, $4,000,495 had been donated by individualsand organisations.

Assistance has been provided in 6,888 cases, by conference members (local volunteers).

The total dollar value of assistance given in this way was $3,505,293 and was spent in the following bush-fire affected areas: Alexandra, Arthurs Creek, Beech-worth, Bendigo, Buxton, Callignee, Christmas Hills, Chum Creek, Clonbinane, Cottles Bridge, Darlimurla, Dixons Creek, Drouin West, Flowerdale, Gormandale,Hazelwood North, Jeeralang, Jindivick, Kallista, Kilmore, Kinglake, Kinglake West, Labertouche, LeRoy, Longwarry, Maiden Gully, Marysville, Mirboo North, Mudgegonga, Myrtleford, Narbethong, Neerim South, Pheasant Creek, Smiths Gully, St Andrews, Steels Creek, Strath Creek, Strathewen, Traralgon South, Wandong, Yarra Glen and Yinnar.

The nature of this assistance was as follows:

34% - furniture and household items17% - whitegoods16% - tools and outdoor equipment16% - food, food vouchers and gift cards7% - other5% - transport, including fuel2% - bills or other financial assistance2% - clothing*1% fire wood*Note: This clothing represents assistance provided by conferences. It does not include material aid distributed through Vinnies Centres.

The outstanding work of members and volunteers duringthe past year has meant individuals, families andcommunities have been able to reestablish themselvesand rebuild their lives. Thank you all.

Twelve months after the bushfires, members and volunteersare assisting survivors to rebuild communities, homes and lives.

Dear Vincentians, Volunteers, Staff and Supporters

Welcome to all our readers of this first edition ofSocietynews for 2010.

One of the major tasks we have set ourselves for thisand the next few years is Refounding.

Refounding is a process of trying to get back to themessages, visions and ethos of our founders but, ofcourse, to re-locate them in the context of the presentday. It is essentially a celebration of our past, present and future and willinclude all members, volunteers, staff and supporters of the Society.

As organisations like ours get larger there is a danger that the purposes forwhich they were founded will become lost or distorted. If this happens wewould be less able to assist the poor and needy in our community. To usemodern jargon, we would become less relevant.

I would like to put a ‘commercial’ into this note.

This year's Ozanam Lecture will be held at St Francis Church, Lonsdale Street,Melbourne on Thursday 3 June 2010.

For this year's lecture we have been fortunate to obtain the services of FatherRichard Benson, a Vincentian priest from Los Angeles. Father Benson is asenior member of the staff at the Los Angeles Diocesan Seminary. He is wellknown for his insights into the work and life of the Society. His lecture will referto the topic of Refounding. Please put the date of this lecture in your diaryNOW.

All members, volunteers and staff members are welcome to all Societygatherings.

With every good wish

U P D AT EState President ’s Update

BY JIM GREALISH

2Letter to EditorDear Sir

Our esteemed member, MichaelPye, in his 84th year and after 58years as a member of the Societyhas resigned from our conference.

Michael, commonly known asMick, amongst other duties hasserved as Conference andRegional Council President. Hehas been a supporter of those inneed and a dedicated visitor to theless fortunate. He is also theproud father of eight daughters.

Yours in ChristBryan WattPresidentSt Jospeh’s ConferenceWarrnambool

Prayers are requested for...Deceased Members, Volunteers, Family and FriendsWilliam Boyce Volunteer, Malvern CentreLes Bramley Ex-Member, Bendigo ConferenceJohn Crosbie Member, Malvern ConferenceLorraine Gunther Volunteer, Vinnies Budget Groceries - MilduraJosie Jordan Member, Ferntree Gully ConferenceIvan Murphy Ex-President & Member, Dandenong North Mens’ ConferenceGerry Oude Vrielink Ex-President & Member, Monbulk Conference &

Mount Dandenong ConferenceMary Terpstra President, Mount Evelyn ConferenceMartha Tetley Member, Beaumaris Conference

Seriously Ill MembersJack Farley Member, Warrnambool West ConferenceYves Keussy Member, Oakleigh ConferenceKevin Pekin Member, Warrnambool West Conference

To ensure correct acknowledgement please forward any requests for prayers toPhilip Mackey by phone on 03 9895 5837 or email philipm@svdp-vic.org.au.

Jim GrealishState President

Conferences step inand show their worthOn 20 December tragedy struck theTut family of Morwell when they losttheir son Bangoang in a tragic andsenseless accident.Bangoang was playing with hisbrothers and mother in the front yardof their home when a vehiclecareened through the fence and hitthe six year old.The whole of Victoria was saddenedby this accident. Support andprayers flooded in to the family. Twoconferences, Parkville and Morwell,communicated in an effort toascertain what immediate assistancecould be given to the family.The Morwell Conference with theGippsland Multicultural Servicesopened an appeal. The ParkvilleConference matched donationsmade by Morwell and the GippslandMulticultural Services and the fundwas up and running.As the cost of the funeral was metby TAC, the money raised will gotowards paying a lump sum rentpayment to the Ministry of Housingon behalf of the family.The family are from Sudan and fledto Australia to escape their war-torncountry.May he rest in peace.Judy LiddySecretaryParkville Conference

Early in 2006 the St Vincent de PaulSociety, in conjunction with OurLady's Parish Sunshine, identified aneed to educate Sudanese womenin the community with the Englishlanguage. As a result SunshineLearning Together was established.The large concentration of Sudaneserefugees within the Sunshine Parishare entitled to 510 hours Englishtuition while they have children underthe age of five.Once the program was established,the Adult Multicultural EducationService provided tutors and womenfrom the parish volunteered to mindthe children while the students wereundergoing their tuition.The program was originally eighthours per week with up to 14 womenattending. Most arrived accompaniedby two children. Following a review, a meeting wascalled for interested community groupsto see what options to revitalise theprogram were available. As a result anexpression of interest for programfunding was submitted to a FederalGovernment funded program calledCommunities for Children operating inthe Brimbank Municipality.Our submission demonstrated theinvolvement of the wider communityand the advantage of networking. Aswell as the Society, Our Lady's Parish,UnitingCare, AMES and the VictorianCo-operative on Children's Servicesfor Ethnic Groups are all involved.The successful funding request sawthe first class conducted in June 2006.Funding was initially for a three yearterm which terminated on the 30 June2009 but, due to the success of theprogram, an application was submitted

for a further three years and this wasalso successful.Consequently the program continuesto go from strength to strength. Twelvemothers regularly attend with up to 22children who are looked after by fourstaff and four volunteers. The staffinclude an English tutor and threechild minders.The Sudanese women, in addition totheir English tuition, are encouraged tointeract with the children, singing,dancing and playing games.The changes we have witnessed withboth the mothers and the childrensince they first became involved withthe program have been incredible. Thechildren especially are now alwayskeen to become involved in all theprogram’s activities.

THURSDAY 17 JUNE 2010For more information:

www.ceosleepout.org.au

U P D AT E 3Sunshine Learning TogetherCelebrating Christmas

Gerald Ward HouseThe Christmas Day Lunch at GeraldWard House was initiated in 2005 toprovide people, who may not havethe means or who are separated fromtheir families, with an opportunity tohave a traditional Christmas lunchwith all the trimmings including a giftfrom Santa and musical entertain-ment. In 2005 there were some 15guests and a handful of volunteers.Last year the number increased toaround 50 people of different agesand diverse cultures. An abundanceof volunteers were also on hand.Sincere thanks to all our ChristmasDay volunteers who so willingly gaveof their time to serve those who areless fortunate.Buxton ConferenceOn Saturday 19 December 2009, theYarra Valley Region held a Christmascelebration at the Buxton Reserve forfamilies, friends and volunteersaffected by the bushfires in the area.This celebration was a great way forour volunteers to meet peopleassisted during Black Saturday. Theday included entertainment for allages, refreshments and Santa. Ferntree Gully ConferenceThe annual Seniors Christmas lunchwas held at the Parish hall at St JohnThe Baptist Church on Saturday 5December 2009. The lunch providedan opportunity to meet the seniors inour community and enjoy an after-noon of good food and entertainment.Volunteers prepared a great meal andthe 80 guests enjoyed a selection ofcarols from our talented musicians.Cr Sue McMillan, Knox Council’sDobson Ward representative, waswelcomed. Thanks are also extendedto Santa, Fr Alan, Beryl Turner andTerry Stephens for their assistance.Ozanam House, OzanamCommunity Centre & Quin HouseChristmas was celebrated at OzanamHouse, Ozanam Community Centreand Quin House with staff, volunteersand clients enjoying traditional fare.Residents at Ozanam House andQuin House and visitors at OzanamCommunitiy Centre received giftsprovided by donors and corporateorganisations. Although extremelybusy, the day was enjoyed by all.

Maurie TaylorProgram Coordinator

Sunshine Learning Together

Participating mothers and children with staff at the Sunshine Learning Together program.

U P D AT E

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For over 15 years, Tasty Trucks hasbeen an integral part of the St Vincentde Paul Society’s soup van services.Known as Victoria's premier lunch vanservice, Tasty Trucks sells a range ofhot and cold food to Melbourne'sbuilding site, factory and office workers.With each of the 50 Tasty Truck vansvisiting up to 60 sites, it is essentialthat workers at the last stop receive thesame variety of food as workers at thefirst stop. This means that at the end ofeach day, Tasty Trucks is left with a lotof pre-packaged food.Every weekday, this leftover food ispacked and sent on to the Vinnies soupvans in Fitzroy and Footscray where itis distributed to the homeless andmarginalised in inner city Melbourne.Greg, a soup van coordinator isimpressed with the quality and varietyof the Tasty Trucks food provided onthe soup vans:"People on the streets just go mad forthe 'wing dings' - they're like gold.Similarly no one ever goes past theroast beef focaccias or theMediterranean vegetable paninis. Thesoup van food is better than what I getat home!"As well as supplying nearly all the foodfor the soup vans on weekdays, TastyTrucks has assisted with the design ofthe soup van fitout used by the Society.

Although similar to the Tasty Trucksfleet, all soup vans have been speciallydesigned to fit their unique purpose.Colin Lear, Managing Director of TastyTrucks is pleased with the closerelationship the exists between Vinniesand his business."Before we started donating ourleftover food to the soup vans, therewas so much wastage which we feltreally bad about. Now it's wonderfulknowing that as well as providing alunch van service for Melbourne'sworkers, we're also helping some ofthe most disadvantaged in ourcommunity. It's something that alsosets us apart from our competitors.People are always interested to hearabout the Vinnies connection."For more information on Tasty Trucks,please see www.tastytrucks.com.au.

Tasty Trucks supports Soup Vans Australia DayHonours

The following Vincentians wererecently honoured:ESME JOLME - Awarded OAM,volunteer at Castlemaine CentreMARY HUGHES - Nominated forCasey Citizen of the Year. Memberfor 31 years.JUSTIN MATTHYS - Nominated forCasey Young Citizen of the Year inCasey Australia Day awards. YoungVinnies member.ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY -NILLUMBIK SHIRE - Won aCommunity Group of the Year 2010Award as part of the Australia DayAwards. This year 46 communitygroups were recognised for theirefforts, usually there are five.Ed. Congratulations to all recipients.Your work in the community isgreatly appreciated. If we havemissed anyone please let us know.

Soup Van President, Br Doug Walsh (left) with Managing Director of Tasty Trucks, Colin Lear

Soup Van volunteers Russell (left) and Mark

Calendar DatesSociety (donor newsletter)March 2010Winter Appeal5 May - 29 August 2010Mass for the Poor - Feast of the Sacred HeartWeekend of 12-13 June 2010Ozanam LectureThursday 3 June 2010, 7pmSt Francis’ Church, MelbourneCEO SleepoutThursday 17 June 2010Mass for Deceased MembersTuesday 9 November 2010Annual General MeetingSaturday 13 November 2010

Contributions to Societynews arealways welcome.

Email to: dianneb@svdp-vic.org.auor send to:

The EditorSocietynewsSt Vincent de Paul SocietyLocked Bag 4800Box Hill Vic 3128

Phone: 03 9895 5800Fax: 03 9895 5850We endeavour to include as manyitems as possible in each issue.