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Community Service __________________________Page
In the tradition of Edmund Rice of service to others the staff and students of St Joseph’s have truly answered this call. They have been so giving of their time to participate in service to help the marginalised in our community. Their involvement in community service defines who we are as Catholics and reflects the Justice and Solidarity touchstone of Edmund Rice Schools.
This year, as their community service, the Year 7s have learnt about the work of St Vinnies and the example set by St Vincent de Paul. They have heard from Peter Chiang, the President of St Vinnies in Geelong. Peter enlightened the boys on the many services St Vinnies offer to the Geelong community and specifically where the clothing and money would go that they raised as part of the SJC Sleep Out. 40 Year 7 & 8 boys slept out for one night at school to raise awareness and money for homeless in Geelong. The boys experienced what it was like to be cold and alone and have nowhere to sleep. The next day the whole school wore casual dress and brought in blankets and clothing to donate to St Vinnies winter appeal. The response from the boys was amazing, filling a St Vinnies truck to the roof. Year 8 students lead an appeal to develop an understanding of the work of the Geelong Food Relief Centre. Rob Gurney, from Geelong Food relief spoke to the students about the service the centre offers in providing relief for 8000 families in the Geelong area. Students lead the appeal to make it all the way around Zampatti oval with cans of food and to build a pyramid of cereal boxes. The whole school supported the appeal by wearing casual dress and donating a box of cereal or can of food for the privilege. This was a most successful campaign driven by Year 8 students and their RE teachers in 2013 with a large amount of non-perishable foods being donated. At St Joseph’s we receive numerous requests for assistance from various organisations. This year a number of Year 12 boys supported Legacy Geelong by shaking tins at an AFL football match at Simonds Stadium. Also a number of junior leaders sold pens and badges at school over legacy week. Many boys also helped out the Scope ‘Walk with me’ event in Geelong in September at the Eastern Gardens and represented the College extremely well. Year 12 students should be proud of the amount of community service they have completed this year as a collective group. In total the boys have completed over 1200 hours of community service in our community volunteering with schools, St Vinnies, Salvation Army, Legacy, nursing homes and refugee programs just to name a few. We often receive feedback from the community organisations expressing their gratitude for the boys’ help and receive comments of how well the boys conduct themselves. These invaluable experiences we hope are something the boys will remember well beyond St Joseph’s and we hope may ignite a desire in them to help others in their community. This year the Breakfast Programs have seen an explosion of involvement from both staff and students. Each Thursday and Friday a group of students and a staff member have met early to head to St Thomas Aquinas Norlane or St Francis Xavier Corio Primary Schools to assist St Vinnies with the provision of a breakfast program. Our students buttered many slices of toast and poured many milos and juices to ensure that students in those areas would begin the day with some food in their stomachs to help them learn. Thanks to a variety of staff getting involved in this program, a large number of students from across the year levels have been able to participate, and for many, experience their first community service activity. Many thanks needs to be extended to our local organisations who partner with us for all these activities. Our students gain so much understanding through their experiences of how different other people’s lives are compared to their own and of how much more difficult life can be. They realise that they can make a difference to a person’s life just by spending time with them. They come to understand that a helping hand can make a big difference and all of us working together can have a significant effect on others.
Claire Wrigley - Community Service Coordinator
The Cage and Vinnies The Cage and Vinnies donations Winter Sleepout Packing cans collected in the Toucan Appeal the Toucan Appeal
