October 2009

It has been another busy term for the Vinnies with a huge variety of activities taking place.

Visits to Naomi Courts

The St. Joseph Vinnies visited the residents of Naomi Courst rest-home on the 27 July, 10 and 31 of August. They did a variety of crafts, games and other activities with the residents. One of the highlights being entertaining the residents as they took turns face-painting each other’s faces. A great time was had by all.

Assisting Riding for the Disabled

On the 6, 13 and 20 of September, the Vinnies assisted the Nelson Riding for the Disabled. They filled up the horse troughs with water and spent time moving sand and wood chips to the horse stalls, raking this out as a covering for the ground. Riding for the Disabled helps children with disabilities develop confidence and co-ordination. Providing a helping hand in the maintenance needed allowed the Vinnies to assist other children who aren’t as fortunate as themselves.

School-wide Canned Food Drive

The St. Joseph Vinnies also held a school-wide canned food drive to assist the St. Vincent de Paul Nelson Centre. A huge amount of cans were donated to this and will be distributed to people in need in the community.

Garin College Community Garden

During the term, sausage sizzles were held at both Bunnings Warehouse and Raeward Fresh to raise funds for the Garin College Community Garden. These were a great success. The Vinnies were able to raise $300 through this effort.

Vinnies at St. Paul’s and Garin College assisted with working on the layout of the garden and planting seeds. On the last day of Term 3, the Garin College Vinnies were able to plant a whole garden bed full of dwarf peas that have grown as a result of this seed planting. We imagine that after the holidays we will have more seedlings ready to be planted.

We have been fortunate that donations towards the garden have kept coming in. These donations have included apple crates from ENZA and coloursteel sheets from Freeman’s Roofing which will go towards creating a few wheelchair-friendly raised garden beds. You are able to keep up-to-date with the progress of the garden by going to www.svdp-vinnies.org.nz. If you are able to assist in anyway please don’t hesitate to let Philippa know either by e-mailing her at philippa@svdp-vinnies.org.nz or phoning 544 4360.

Annual Garin Vinnies Resthome Concert

On the 7 August the Garin Vinnies once again outdid themselves in a fantastic array of performances for the number of resthome residents invited to their annual Garin Vinnies Resthome Concert followed by afternoon tea. This concert has become a firm favourite among the resthomes with this year producing the largest audience ever.

Daffodil Day Collecting

On the 28 and 29 of August the Garin Vinnies, College Vinnies and In-Vince-ables got out into the community to give the Cancer Society a hand in raising funds for Daffodil day. Earlier in the term Wendy Hope, Manager of the Nelson Cancer Society had come to Garin College to speak at one of the Vinnies meetings in regard to Cancer and the work of the Nelson Cancer Society in assisting those who are battling this sometimes terminal illness. With 1 in every 3 people experiencing Cancer sometime in their life, the statistics are too high for people not to get out there and help in whatever way they can.

Concert for the Stoke Senior Citizens

On the 1 September, Garin College students and members of the College Vinnies conference went to the Stoke Senior Citizens Hall to entertain the many elderly in the community who gather there. From singing and dancing to instrumental pieces, these Vinnies well and truly brightened up the afternoon.

Vinnies Mass

The term finished off with the Vinnies Mass on the 20 September held at St. Francis of Assisi Church. This was a celebration of the lives of Blessed Frederic Ozanam whose memorial day is on the 9 September and Saint Vincent de Paul whose feast day is on the 27 September. Vinnies from the different conferences played a variety of important roles at the mass and followed Mass by serving supper.

As part of the skill-building sessions this term, the Vinnies have been looking at the gift of who they are – their characteristics and strengths and how they can use their own unique talents to help those in need in the community and make a positive difference in the world around them. Through their compassion and selflessness, these young people play an enormous role in our community, they truly are “God’s masterpieces, created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10).

July 2009

It has been another busy term for the Vinnies at St. Joseph’s School and Garin College.

Community Recognition for St. Joseph Vinnies:

The St. Joseph Vinnies felt very proud of their certificate of recognition for community service that they received at the recent Nelson Volunteer Youth Awards. According to Red Cross Service Centre Co-ordinator, Amy Penn, “It was my pleasure nominating them, they do a fantastic job…. There is a lot of young children out there that could learn from them.”

Meals-on-wheels:

The St Joseph Vinnies carried on with their weekly round of delivering Meals-on-wheels. The recipients were delighted with the frames the Vinnies made for them. These contained photos taken last term of the Meals-on-wheels recipients with a St. Joseph’s Vinnie. One of the couples we deliver Meals-on-wheels to, informed us of the fact that the lady of the house had spent many years serving the community through working for St. Vincent de Paul until she felt she was too old now. However she was delighted to receive a framed photo of her husband and one of the St. Joseph Vinnies together, it meant a lot to them. At another home where the gentleman is blind, the framed photo now stands in pride of place on the piano and is often talked about with the different caregivers who come in to look after him each day. For many of the people the St. Joseph Vinnies deliver meals to, a true bond of companionship has formed – one that both the Vinnies and the Meals-on-wheels recipients receive much from.

Garin College Vinnies recognised for their community service:

The Garin College Vinnies were also recognised for their service out in the community. Bella Lim who has this year moved on to tertiary training down in Dunedin was nominated by the Faith and Light Community for the Nelson Volunteer Youth Awards while Lily Warner and Karen Drysdale were nominated by the Cancer Society for their willingness to serve others distributing sun cream at the Weetbix Tryathlon earlier in the year.

Garin College activities:

The Garin College Vinnies have served the community in a number of ways throughout the term. They made and delivered apple crumbles to the residents of the pensioner flats adjoining the Stoke and Richmond Catholic Churches as well as the parish priests. They assisted Riding for the Disabled in Richmond cleaning up the horse stalls and paddocks. The horse manure is then bagged by RDA and sold as garden fertilizer to raise funds for the services they offer. They entertained the residents of Wensley House and the Faith and Light Community with their dancing, instrumental and singing ability. They have also been visiting the residents of Stillwater Gardens resthome. A number of kits have been made up that allow the students and residents to enjoy a combination of games and craft activities during these visits.

Garin’s Community Garden Project:

Perhaps one of the biggest projects to get started this term is the setting up of a community garden at Garin College to assist people in need in the community. With increasing unemployment many people in the community are feeling the stretch. The produce grown will be used to supplement food parcels put together and distributed to people in need by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The Garin College Vinnies would be grateful for any donations of soil, compost materials to form garden beds, old hoses and sprinklers for irrigation, wire and plastic to insulate seedlings from the frost, seeds and vegetable plants. If you feel you are able to assist in anyway please don’t hesitate to let Philippa, the Vinnies Youth Co-ordinator know either by e-mail on philippa@svdp-vinnies.org.nz or by phone on 544 4360.

Frederic Ozanam, the founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul once said, “Let us do what Christ did…let us go to the poor.” People in need in the community may take a variety of forms. It is great to be on the cutting edge of watching our young people reach out to those in need in a multitude of ways – they are amazing role-models of just what it means to put their faith into action.

11 May 2009

The wonderful St. Joseph Vinnies have continued on with their weekly Meals-on-wheels round this year, delivering a variety of meals to an average of 15 homes per week. The recipients often tell me just how much seeing these young faces brightens up their day. The NZ Red Cross have nominated the St. Joseph Vinnies for the Volunteer Youth Awards for 2009.

Term One has seen a great start to the year for the Vinnies in the local area. In the past year we have gone from having four Vinnies conferences operating at St. Paul’s, Garin College, St. Joseph’s and St. Peter Chanel to now having 7 up and running with the possibility of another 2 starting up in the next few months. The new Vinnies conferences on board are Sacred Heart Primary School in Reefton, the In-Vince-ables Young Men’s Conference and a college-aged conference mainly for college students who have gone on to colleges where a Vinnies group is not yet operational. We hope to also get a Young Adults group for young adults 18 – 30 years up and going.

It has been a full on term for the Vinnies. The year got underway with the In-Vince-ables racing the go-kart they created out of recycled parts in the Collingwood Derby Challenge. The Garin College Vinnies were involved in a concert they put on at Stillwater Gardens performing for the residents with their musical ability, dancing, poetry recitals and joke telling. They also spent a morning entertaining the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Organisation by playing games with them, topping the morning off with a few songs. Fundraising for the Vinnies camp at the beginning of April  saw Garin Vinnies bagging apples and pears as well and selling them at the Farmers Market in Richmond and at the St. Paul’s Gala. The St. Paul’s Vinnies added to these initiatives by creating butterfly puppets to sell at the Gala and selling apples and pears within the school. They put on a whole school Liturgy for the school to enjoy on Holy Thursday.

The camp was perhaps the highlight of the term. Held at Bridge Valley Adventure Centre from 3-5 April, it saw 43 Vinnies from around the area come together to learn more about the St. Vincent de Paul Society as well as organisations that St. Vincent de Paul assist. A wonderful youth mass was  celebrated to mark Palm Sunday and the Vinnies enjoyed crafts and a number of fun outdoor activities such as kayaking, caving, a fantastic flying fox, stilt-walking and chariot building. A special thanks goes out to the awesome leaders we had on camp as well as the youth band who came to camp especially to play the music for our youth mass.  It is such a pleasure working with these vibrant young people who have such a lot to offer!