Youth NEWS October 2009
The St Vincent de Paul Society Newsletter for Victorian Youth
VINNIES YOUTH PRESENTS
Friday 21st August, 2009
The 2009 Vinnies Youth Ball raised $3208.36 for the Vinnies Victorian Disaster Appeal. Thank-you for your support.
October 2009 - Page
From Jim Grealish, Victorian State President Leadership “Many forests have been felled in writing about the subject of leadership. Various forms of leadership are called for in differing circumstances. In the Society, and in the Church, we talk about servant leadership; the leader is chosen to be at the service of the members, rather than to be the “boss” who lords it over his or her subjects. I want to relate leadership in its best Society sense to the upcoming retirement from the leadership of the Youth Ministry of Penny Badwal. Penny has guided the Youth Ministry with great care and attention. She has presided over its growth and development prior to, during and after World Youth Day. Penny’s talents and dedication to the Society have been recognised internationally as an Australian representative on the Society’s World Youth Council. Not only has Penny capably represented Youth matters on State Council, but she has also participated
Actively in wider Council affairs. She is a keen reader of Council papers and does not shy away from asking probing questions. Penny has made a great contribution to the Society, and I am sure she will emerge in new leadership roles in the near future. Her contribution is the more meritorious because she has needed to balance her Society work with her day job and with her studies. In thanking Penny for all her efforts, we also welcome her successor, Brendan Lindsay, and look forward to the benefit of his leadership role.”
Siena College, Camberwell Throughout 2009 the Siena College St Vincent de Paul Society Conference has worked endlessly towards raising funds for Vinnies through a variety of ways. This is a committee run entirely by students, with the guidance of a Siena College Staff member. All of the Vinnies girls have endless fun working together to achieve our goals of helping those less fortunate. Some of our efforts in 2009 include: • •
A cake stall each term, with cakes donated from students in years 7-9 A Cadbury chocolate drive, which raised over $1000, just through selling chocolates at the College
• •
A sleep-in for year 8 students An IPod touch raffle
We are passionate about making a difference, especially by helping those within our community, such as contributing to the Bush Fire appeal, the Winter Appeal, as well as sponsoring students in the Philippines. Closer to home we are actively involved, by rostering senior students to make the sizeable journey on public transport to assist at the Edmund Rice Centre in St Albans, in the Refugee Tutoring program. - Article by Louise Taylor, Siena College Conference
South Eastern Young Vinnies Recently South Eastern Young Vinnies held a ‘Guess the Chocolates in the Jar’ fundraiser for Assist-AStudent. This fundraising effort went really well and received a lot of support. The total amount of money raised was $350. This is a fantastic amount as the fundraiser only went for two weeks. From this five students will be assisted! We were very excited when announcing the winner recently. With a guess of 983 Simone from Western Young Vinnies had the closest guess to the actual count of 978 lollies in the jar. We called her to let her know and she was quite happy
although sounded apprehensive in wanting to take possession of the jar! We were all so impressed with our Conference’s efforts and are extremely grateful to all the Vincentians who participated and supported us, as well as our wonderful families and friends. I am still amazed at people's generosity. - Article by Loretta Conheady, South Eastern Young Vinnies October 2009 - Page 2
Joining a young adult conference Were you involved in a College Conference? Are you wanting to continue and strengthen your involvement with the St Vincent de Paul Society, now that you have finished school? There are a number of Young Adult Conferences located around Victoria. These Conferences are involved with works such as Home Visitations, Soup Van, Kids Days Out, Kids Camps, Fundraising, and other works. Below are emails for all the young adult conferences in Victoria. Where it says to ‘Contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs’, please contact them on the details listed on page 6, and they will be able to put you in touch with your nearest conference. If there is no conference listed in your area, and you know a few other young people that might be interested in starting a young adult conference, contact Rohan, Roz and Jacs and they can talk about how they can help you make it happen. Baw Baw Young Vinnies Located in Warragul, Drouin Contact Rohan Roz or Jacs
Diamond Valley Young Vinnies Located in Montmorency Email: dvyoungvinnies@gmail.com
Ballarat Young Vinnies Contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs
Geelong Young Vinnies Email: youngvinniesgeelong@gmail.com
Ballarat Australian Catholic University Young Vinnies Located at ACU Aquinas Campus, Ballarat Contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs
Goulburn Valley Young Vinnies Located in Shepparton Email: gvyoungvinnies@gmail.com
Bendigo Young Vinnies Contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs
Inner East Young Vinnies Covering the areas of Hawthorn, Deepdene, Kew, etc. Email: innereast.ysvdp.vic@gmail.com
Bennettswood Young Vinnies Email: bennettswood.ysvdp.vic@gmail.com
Kids' Camps Email: c-amp@hotmail.com
Brimbank Young Vinnies Located in Deer Park Email: brimbank.ysvdp.vic@gmail.com
Outer East Young Vinnies Located in Ringwood North Email: outereast.ysvdp.vic@gmail.com
Brunswick Young Vinnies Covering the areas of Brunswick, Carlton, Preston, Northcote, Coburg, Pascoe Vale, Oak Park, etc. Contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs
Port Melbourne Home Visitation Team Contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs
Burwood Young Vinnies Email: burwood.ysvdp.vic@gmail.com Casey Young Vinnies Located in Berwick Email: caseyyoungvinnies@gmail.com Doncaster Young Vinnies Contact Rohan Roz or Jacs
South Eastern Young Vinnies Located in East Bentleigh Email: lorettaconheady@gmail.com Strathmore Young Vinnies Contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs Western Young Vinnies Located in East Keilor Email: westernyoungvinnies@hotmail.com
“God loves you. Love one another as He loves you. Love is sharing, love is giving the best we have. We are carriers of God’s love and whoever you are, you can become one also.” - Mother Teresa of Calcutta October 2009 - Page 3
2009 Vinnies Youth Retreat Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th August, 2009
‘Living the Beatitudes’ Fifty young adults enjoyed a two day retreat at Queesncliff in August. The weekend was a great opportunity to reflect on the works that we do, using Bessed Pier Giorgio Frassati as an example on how to live the Beatitudes.
Faith On Tap On the last Wednesday of each month a number of young adults gather upstairs at Father Flanagan’s Irish Pub, on the corner of Alexandra Parade and Smith Street in Collingwood. Together they share a meal and a drink and listen to a talk on an aspect of the Catholic faith. Some previous topics include St Thomas Aquinas, Parts I, II, III and IV of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Evangelisation, Year of St Paul, Heaven and Hell and
contentious moral issues. Some of the upcoming topics include Mary, Year for Priest and a Question and Answer Session. If you have any topics in mind or questions about the Catholic Church please contact Rohan, Roz or Jacs. Hope to see you at Faith On Tap soon! October 2009 - Page 4
St Vincent de Paul Date of birth: 24th April 1581 Place of birth: Pouy, France Died: 27th September 1660 Canonised a saint: 16th June 1737 Feast Day: 27th September Vincent was a very intelligent young man, who spent four years with the Franciscan friars obtaining an education. He tutored children of wealthy families and was ordained at the age of 20. At the age of 24, Vincent was taken captive by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery. During this time, Vincent witnessed the terrible conditions in which slaves were forced to live, although his own master was a doctor who treated him well and taught him about medicine. When his master died, Vincent escaped and returned to France.
pledging his life to people who were sick, insane, orphaned, elderly, starving or abandoned, and to beggars, prisoners and slaves. There was no form of poverty or suffering – physical, emotional or spiritual – which Vincent did not try to alleviate. He was appointed Royal Chaplain General and set about improving conditions for prisoners, slaves and people in hospital.
Vincent started an order of priests called the Congregation of the Mission – more commonly known as Vincentians – whose mission it was to share Jesus’ good news to the villages through preaching and service. Along with Louise de Marillac, he also started the Daughters of Charity, who cared for people who were poor and sick. St Vincent de Paul is the patron saint of charities, charitable societies and workers, hospitals and hospital workers, lepers, prisoners and volunteers. The town in which Vincent was born in now known as Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. Vincent believed that In France, Vincent became a parish priest. He in serving the poor, he was serving Christ: “Go to the committed himself to serving the poorest of the poor, poor: you will find God.”
Galen College, Wangaratta The Galen College Young Vincentians held a sleepout in August, raising $1000 for youth homelessness in Victoria’s North East. Students enjoyed listening to the local conference representatives speak about their experiences helping individuals and families in the Wangaratta community. The group also participated in a trivia competition about poverty and homelessness in Australia, ate soup for dinner and finished the evening by watching the film, ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ before curling up on their cardboard boxes for the night. Breakfast the following morning was kindly donated and served by the local St. Vincent De Paul Society Conference members and then it was straight back into the classroom for a normal school day. - Article by Therese Rodway, Galen College
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Keep Your Diary Free November 10th, 7:00pm - Mass of Thanksgiving St Francis’ Church - Corner of Lonsdale St and Elizabeth St, Melbourne. You are invited to the Thanksgiving Mass for deceased conference members, volunteers and staff. For more information contact Roz. November 22nd, 6:00pm - Kids’ Camp Information Night Gerald Ward House, 43 Prospect St, Box Hill. For anyone interested in being a leader on our Summer Kids’ Camp - a six day camp for disadvantaged children, on the Mornington Peninsula, 10-15 January 2010. Leaders must be aged 17 years and over. There’s a compulsory training session on Sun 29th November, 9:30am to 1pm. For more info email James or Liam at c-amp@hotmail.com November 25th, 6:30pm - Faith On Tap Father Flanagan’s Irish Pub - Corner of Alexandra Pde and Smith St, Collingwood. Join us for a talk on the Catholic Faith while enjoying a drink and a meal (meals are $12 on Wednesday nights) with the Society’s young adults at an inner-city pub. The talk starts at 7:30pm and goes for about 30-40 mins, plus time for questions, but come earlier and join us from 6:30pm for dinner. Faith On Tap is held on the last Wednesday of each month. For more info contact Roz. November 29th, 3:00 - Youth Festival Mass and BBQ Carmelite Monastery, 94 Stevensons St, Kew. All College Conference members, young adult members and volunteers are invited to celebrate another year of great works at the Festival Mass, followed by a ’Christmas Party’ BBQ. Mass is at 3pm, at the Carmelite Monastery in Kew, followed by a shared BBQ from 4:30 at Studley Park. RSVP by November 25th or for more information contact Jacs.
December 19 (all day)-Yarra Valley Christmas Family Day If you’re 18 or over, please help! A massive Christmas Family Day is being organised for around 400 families who were affected by the Bushfires. Outer East Young Vinnies are running kids’ activities on the day, and we need lots of leaders! To help, contact Tracey at leo15_gekko@yahoo.com.au Please RSVP asap. More details will be sent to you soon. There’s a planning meeting on Saturday 14th November, at 5pm, at Box Hill, followed by dinner at La Porchetta at 6:30pm. Anyone interested in being involved in the planning is welcome, but again, please RSVP to Tracey beforehand.
In 2010... January 27th, February 24th, March 31st, 6:30pm - Faith On Tap Father Flanagan’s Irish Pub - Corner of Alexandra Pde and Smith St, Collingwood. For more info contact Roz. March 11th, 7:30pm - Youth Welcome Retro Café, 413 Brunswick St, Fitzroy. Anyone 17 or over and interested in getting into Vinnies is welcome to come and meet Vinnies young adult members in a relaxed setting. Free fingerfood & soft drink (Alcoholic drinks at bar prices with ID). To RSVP or for more info, contact Jacs on 0439 118 568 or at jacinta.healy@svdp-vic.org.au
March 20th 9:30am-4:30pm - Day Retreat Abbotsford Convent, St Heliers St. College Conference members, young adult members and volunteers are invited to share in a one day retreat at the Abbotsford Convent. The day will run from 9:30 to 4:30. Take some time out to begin Mid-December—Christmas Present Wrapping, Eastland the year, in a beautiful location, reflecting with other St VinHelp Outer East Young Vinnies raise money for the St Vin- cent de Paul Society members. Cost is only $10, with lunch cent de Paul Society in the lead up to Christmas at their included. For more information contact Rohan. Christmas gift wrapping stall at Eastland, Ringwood. The stall will run from mid-December to Christmas Eve, and will oper- 28th and 29th August - Vinnies Youth Retreat ate for the entire opening hours of the centre during this time Pallotti College, Millgrove. Keep these dates free! so we need lots of volunteers to fill shifts on the roster. 10th September - Vinnies Youth Ball To register your interest, please email Rohan and we’ll for- San Remo Ballroom, Carlton. Keep this date free! ward your details on to Outer East YV. Mid-December—Christmas Hamper Deliveries We’ll need volunteers to deliver Christmas hamper to individuals and families in need on a Saturday morning in midDecember (either 12th or 19th December - TBC) We’ll meet at about 9am and you'll be paired off into teams and given 8-10 hampers to deliver around the inner suburbs. More details will be provided closer to the date of distribution. Please contact Rohan if you’d like to help, or want more info.
OTHER EVENTS: Every Thursday, 6:30-7:30pm - six30 Holy Hour Join young adults for Adoration at St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne. Prayer, music and reflection, followed by socialising afterwards. Enter via the Lansdowne St carpark. For more info go to www.aoy.org.au or email louisa@austens.com.au.
This newsletter will be produced every two months and circulated amongst the Victorian Catholic Secondary Schools and the St Vincent de Paul Society Young Adult Conferences. If you have any upcoming events, photos or articles to contribute email them to Roz or Jacs. (If sending in photos, please supply the names of those in the photo and ensure permission has been obtained from those in the photo.)
For more information check out the website or contact us: Rohan Smith State Youth Coordinator Tel: (03) 9895 5840 Mob: 0421 288 017 Fax: (03) 9895 5881 Email: rohans@svdp-vic.org.au
Roz Kelly College and Youth Assistant Tel: (03) 9895 5839 Mob: 0448 527 383 Fax: (03) 9895 5881 Email: rozlyn.kelly@svdp-vic.org.au
Jacs Healy College and Youth Assistant Tel: (03) 9895 5859 Mob: 0439 118 568 Fax: (03) 9895 5881 Email: jacinta.healy@svdp-vic.org.au
Address: 43 Prospect St, Box Hill Postal Address: Locked Bag 4800, Box Hill 3128
www.vinnies.org.au/youth October 2009 - Page 6