Students Efforts to Help those Less Fortunate over Christmas

Over the past couple of weeks, students from Catherine McAuley Catholic Primary School have been gathering items for their annual St Vincent De Paul’s Christmas hamper appeal.

This cause has been well-supported by the school community with hundreds of non-perishable items being donated.

Mini Vinnies leader at Catherine McAuley, 12-year-old Freya Bryant described ‘Mini Vinnies’ as a small fundraising group represented by Year 6 leaders.

“We organise fundraisers. We’ve had a couple this year, such as a movie event, and others like cake and pancakes stalls to raise money, and also paying visits to our local St Francis Aged Care, where we put on talent shows for the elderly, it is really quite enjoyable. I like helping people, it makes me feel really good when I do.”

The hampers will be distributed to our less fortunate in the Orange community, with this year’s hampers also including cinema tickets, which we think is a great little addition!

“We managed to get a lot of hampers this year which we are very proud of. This year hampers will also be distributed to people who have been affected by the drought, so they can have a nice Christmas feast with their family,” said Freya.

“We want those who are struggling to just keep hope, know there are people thinking of them and trying to help out where they can.”

Well done Catherine McAuley, hopefully there will be many more people who experience a Merry Christmas because of your selflessness.

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What is Mini Vinnies?

Mini Vinnies empowers our primary school students to become advocates within their school and local community by putting their values into action. It is about doing good in the community that benefit people facing social injustice. It is also about young people meeting to talk, share ideas and concerns, to have fun and support each other.