By Robert Hiini
Jesus sent them out in pairs and so did the Society of St Vincent de Paul for their annual street appeal throughout Perth.
Students from Catholic high schools took to the streets on September 12 with balloons and tins, with one pair busking down at Perth Central train station to raise funds for emergency relief assistance. Last year the people of Perth gave $43,000 in loose change to street appeal volunteers, a figure that street appeal coordinator Lucinda Ardagh hopes to eclipse this year. Ms Ardagh said that donations would be used in the area or suburb in which they were made with money raised in Perth’s central business district going to their Major Relief Fund to be redistributed to those areas in most need.
“So it’s the community giving to the community directly,” she said.
Most of the money will be used in home visitation, Vinnies core work, where local volunteers visit people in their homes and provide emergency food relief, assistance with utilities, clothing and help with budgeting among other services.
Students who helped in the appeal came from Trinity, Mercedes, Mater Dei, Santa Maria and Ursula Frayne Catholic high schools.
The students participate as part of their required community service but also out of a desire to promote the social work of the Church. Ms Ardagh says that she was impressed by the way the students held themselves. “They’re all fantastic and polite and so respectful of the job that they’re doing. Schools should be proud of them”, Ms Ardagh said.
“They’re having a good time and people like to see the students out there doing something,” she said.
Following discovery’s recent article about homelessness, Ms Ardagh also detailed the significant work the Society is doing to help those caught up in Perth’s growing homeless population. The Society has recently opened a Vincentian Village in Midland that provides housing for homeless men.
Vinnies’ Passages Resource Centre, a joint initiative with Perth Rotary in the CBD, offers help to young people on the street aged 12 – 25, providing a place to wash clothes and shower, counselling, help with Centrelink as well as legal assistance.