FUNDRAISING FOR FAMILIES – St Mary’s College

The Ronald McDonald House provides a home away from home for many families who live far away from the Starship hospital.As part of their service to the local community St Mary’s Vinnies will be hosting a dinner party for these families. These young women have spent the past moth fundraising for this cook-up, and recently held a bulk baking sale. The fundraiser proved most succesful, with the students now looking towards the finalizing their menu.
EXPLORING HOMELESSNESS – De La Salle College
The Vinnies of De La Salle College chose to focus on Homelessness this term. As part of this programme the students participated in ‘learning sessions’ facilitated by the Vinnies staff. These workshops are crucial for their learning as it informs them about the the cause and effects of Homelessness and also better prepares them for their service work in the community.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE ELDERS – St Dominic’s College
It is essential that Vinnies Youth Conferences have the opportunity to meet the adult members of the local Vincentian conferences who have carried out the work to the local community for numerous years. The students of Liston College and St Dominic’s College had the opportunity to meet their local West Auckland Area Council President Owen Knock. It was a great meeting, Owen shared of his experience and knowledge of issues faced by families in West Auckland and those he has had the opportunity to work with. He ended his talk in affirming these young women for their contribution to their local community as well as their continued r support of the work of the Society.

TERTIARY VINNIES MASS 2015 – “GROW IN GOD’S LOVE”

Each month the Auckland Catholic Tertairy Chaplaincy host an evening Mass at St Patricks for Tertiary students. Yhese masses are always weel.attended by university students and young people. In the month of May the Tertiary Vinnies were given the opportunity to host the Tertiary Mass. This Mass was celebrated by Fr Bernie Thomas. It was a wonderful gathering attended by University students hundreds of youth and the local parishioners of St Patrick’s Cathedral. The message of the homily was Grow in God’s Love.
SUPPORTING THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS

Homework centres provide an invaluable support network to young people and their families. The staff of the De Paul house for many years have run a succesful homework centre for the children of their resident families. They have taken a lot of care with creating their programme and the resourcing of it. The Vinnies of Carmel and Rosmini are rostered on on each week to help out in the delivery of this programme. This includes helping homework and building relationships with the children.
These opportunities are priceless for both the children and the Vinnies. It allows for positive socialization, the building of self esteem, competency and relationships.Currently eight Catholic Secondary Schools volunteer in local afterschool programmes.Carmel College and Rosmini College: currently volunteer at the De Paul House Homework centre, Sacred Heart College volunteer at St Pius X School, Liston and St Dominic’s College: Henderson Primary, West Region. Each school group allocates a time each week to visit their respective areas once a week, and provide peer support to the younger students.

HANGING OUT AFTER SCHOOL – De La Salle College

As the school term draws to an end, the young men of De La Salle College Vinnies have continued to commit their time to lead children of their local community in an after-school programme. Strong friendships have been built through learning more about each other and have some fun at the same time. When asked what the highlight of their experiences so far has been, one student responded: “My highlight tonight was seeing how active the kids were and them enjoying the time with us”.
SVDP SOUTH AUCKLAND GATHER TO CELEBRATE

Members of South Auckland SVdP came together to celebrate Mass and also honour one of their fellow Vincentians for his journey of service. In recognition of over 46 years dedicated to serving the needs of the community, Maurice Kearney received a special Vincentian award. The gathering was enjoyed by all. It also provided an opportunity for the council to connect in with one another and also with the Vinnies leaders of De La Salle College, McAuley High School and Sancta Maria College. The Mass was followed by a South Area Council meeting, allowing each conference the opportunity to update one another on their respective activities.

HELPING ONE ANOTHER



Visitation to local Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Centres has become a popular important part of the Vinnies Youth Programme. This allows students of all ages to learn and help pack the SVdP food bank, prepare packs for Prisons and Rehabilitation Services (PARS), as well as assisting in the opshop that helps fund the services of the Society.