The local St Vincent de Paul conference has been congratulated on its Christmas hamper campaign this year.
Following the generous contributions of many parishioners, our Doubleview Vinnies team of volunteers has been able to make a difference to the lives of people in need this Christmas.
Parish priest Fr Peter Hoang OP and the Parish Council conveyed thanks to the group for co-ordinating and executing the collection of food and gifts and the subsequent distribution of the hampers.
The task was immense but it was done with lots of love and care by all concerned.
This year, because of the parish building project, the sorting of the hampers was conducted in the church itself. This appears to have been beneficial in highlighting the scale of the task and the value of the campaign.
Seeing the magnitude of the donations stored in the church made an impression on parishioners, demonstrating one aspect of the good work being undertaken by SVDP for the community.
This is probably the first time many would have seen the work put into collecting and distributing Christmas hampers. Hopefully this exercise has prompted some to reflect on the work of volunteers and consider offering their services to our Vinnies conference.
Our group received a certificate of appreciation from the Passages Resource Centre in Northbridge, a referral service for homeless or street dwelling young people between the ages of 12 and 25.
For more go to www.passagesresourcecentre.com