The Knights of the Southern Cross (KSC) Cathedral Branch 28, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Elizabeth Quay (REQ), have last month joint ventured in support of St Vincent De Paul’s (Vinnies) “Christmas Appeal” on 21 November, collecting non-perishable food donations and giving food hampers to those in need.
The “food drive-in” project saw 75 food hampers delivered to families in need, as well as donations of six refurbished bicycles through the West Perth charity, Dismantle Inc. The venture is the third collaboration between KSC and REQ.
At its last COVID-19 food appeal, the venture received 3200kg worth of food donations from generous benefactors, helping Vinnies to make and distribute an estimated 177 food hampers to people in need last winter.
Tristan Kolay, Branch 28’s former Chairman, believes the collaboration helps increase awareness to help families in need in the communities.
“We can work smarter and had a larger impact on the community by partnering with other organisations who have a similar vision,” Mr Kolay said.
“I think it’s an opportunity to have organisations like the Knights of the Southern Cross to be visibly leading, by example, as a Catholic organisation of Catholic men going out in the community and putting faith into action by supporting families in need. I think it’s important to identify as Catholic doing good things, particularly at this time.”
At dawn on Saturday 21 November, a total of 30 volunteers including members from Branch 28 of KSC WA Branch Chairman Adrian Maxwell, Jonathan Doss, Matthew Moncrieff, members of Rotary of Elizabeth Quay and volunteers from Vinnies were out in force in West Perth collecting non-perishable food items.
“This time was different as we physically sorted out the non-perishable food donated and put them into hampers. The last time we got all the food donated and put into a truck. So, we had more volunteers on site,” Mr Kolay explained.
“The Knights actually collected food from families who are donating the food, and we even collected the food on the day, so people drove into West Perth and we took the food from their vehicles and sorted them into hampers.
“At the end of the day, Vinnies volunteers collected the food hampers from our location to distribute to their families and refugees in need,” he continued.
Mr Kolay hopes this collaboration can be an ongoing project of KSC WA Branch 28 and Rotary Club of Elizabeth Quay.