Lola, Hattie, St Vincent de Paul's Celie Kelly, St Brendan's Parish assistant priest Father Jackson Saunders, Scarlett, Priscilla and Isabelle pictured with just some of the non-perishable food items donated by the St Brendan’s School community.
A month-long collection driven by a dedicated team of Year 6 students at Shepparton’s St Brendan’s Primary School will help fill hungry bellies in the town during the colder months.
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Each year, the school collects donations for the St Vincent De Paul Society winter appeal.
Last year it was clothing donations; this year, food.
“It is important for our students to learn about the importance of reaching out to those in need and understand even in our community of Shepparton, there are many families and individuals doing it tough,” St Brendan’s Primary School Catholic identity leader Leanne Pellegrino said.
St Brendan's Primary School Winter Meals Appeal gathered lots of support from its school community.
Photo by
Bree Harding
“Through organisations like St Vincent de Paul, we can offer support through donations like our winter meals appeal.”
The Catholic identity and life skills student leadership team is made up of students from Year 6 classes who led the food drive by example, being among the first to donate.
“They did an amazing job promoting this important project and should be very proud of themselves and the amazing collection of donations we received,” Mrs Pellegrino said.
“Many of these students were the first to bring their own boxes or bags of food items to encourage other classmates to do so also. It certainly worked.”
Year 6 students Hattie, Lola, Isabelle, Priscilla and Scarlett help St Vincent de Paul's Celie Kelly to load up the food donations from the school community.
Mrs Pellegrino said it was a wonderful school community, with parents, students and teachers always compassionate and giving to organisations such as Vinnies.
“We are very proud of our school community and for all the donations they provided this year,” she said.
“Over the last few years especially, we understand many families are going through a rough time financially, but despite this, our families are very giving and supportive of school fundraising efforts and will always provide a wonderful outpouring of donations.”
The Year 6 St Brendan's Catholic identity and life skills leadership team co-ordinated the collection.
Photo by
Bree Harding
The month-long collection culminated in a school assembly on Friday, June 14, when St Brendan’s Parish assistant priest Father Jackson Saunders addressed the crowd.
He recounted times he had received knocks on the door in the middle of the night from people desperate for food and warmth.
He applauded the children for their efforts and said the parish was appreciative of the support. He emphasised how important it was to help struggling community members through practical initiatives like the giving appeal.
Mrs Pellegrino said it was the largest number of non-perishable food item donations the school had gathered. The donations will benefit local people in need.
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