Societynews - ALLAN GRAY | THE 'ENGINE WHISPERER' - St Vincent de Paul Society
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Societynews NEWSLETTER 293 | MARCH-APRIL 2018
Allan Gray with Monique Schafter
ALLAN GRAY | THE 'ENGINE WHISPERER'
He’s known as the ‘engine whisperer’ “I just love it,” he said. “It’s as simple came alongside me and said ‘Whatever
and ‘the David Attenborough as that. Seeing the need out there— you do just smile and be yourself.’ That’s
of 4-wheel drives’; but every and believe me, it’s everywhere—I exactly what I needed to hear.”
Wednesday night on Melbourne’s can’t stand around and do nothing. Wednesday night manager Dr Michael
inner-city streets, Allan Gray is This need drives me and the soup Mazzolini said that Allan is an extremely
simply ‘Big Al’— a dedicated Vannie van provides more than food, it valued member of the team and is
on the Vinnies Fitzroy Soup Van. provides friendship.” always looking out for others—including
On 24 April, Allan was featured on the While Allan is a natural on the silver any ‘potential’ Vannies.
ABC’s The 7.30 Report. Over one day screen, he said he felt humbled “He’s absolutely passionate about
and two nights, Allan was shadowed and a little uncomfortable by all the changing the way people see poverty.”
by a film crew and interviewed by attention; but he’s always happy
Walkley Award-winning television to talk about the soup van, as he
journalist and documentary maker believes more people should be
Monique Schafter. aware of the service and the fact
that the Fitzroy Soup Van has been
The 83-year-old works four days a
operating every day for over four
week as a car engineer, is the self-
decades, every night.
effacing star of the extremely popular
‘Terrain Tamer’ YouTube videos Fellow Vannie Shannon Joyce
(which routinely attract thousands remembers Allan taking the stress
of viewers) and has, for the last 14 out of his first night on the van: “I was
years, volunteered his time on the petrified about what others would
Vinnies Soup Van. think of me,” said Shannon. “Big Al
A PUBLICATION FOR SOCIETY MEMBERS, VOLUNTEERS & EMPLOYEES
STATE PRESIDENT
Kevin McMahon
Dear Friends,
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kevin
McMahon, and I am, first and foremost, a proud conference
member at Greensborough, and have been since 2007. INNER CITY VISITATION TURNS 20
This year, starting in April, I’m officially your new State The team at Gerald Ward House celebrated more than
President. I’m extremely passionate about the St Vincent 20 years of the St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria’s
de Paul Society (Vinnies) and, here in my inaugural inner-city home visitation program recently.
welcome, I’d like to share some of the reasons why. Addressing a room full of past and present Vincentians,
Firstly, I don’t need to tell readers about the enormous Doncaster East member, Tony Tome, gave an impassioned
difference we make in the community—helping out historical account of the program which was started by the
with financial assistance to keep families in stable late Syd Tutton in 1997 in response to significant calls for
accommodation, with access to food and essential utilities. assistance in St Kilda, South Yarra and Prahran, before
This is happening right across the State, and all around branching out into South Melbourne, East Melbourne,
Australia. Fitzroy and Carlton.
It’s little wonder that our conferences have so much support The Society’s General Manager Service Development,
in the community. I am so proud to be part of a team of Kate Johnson, spoke about the amazing commitment of
members, volunteers and employees who are all working members and volunteers over the years, and reminded
together for the one goal of keeping our many and varied everyone that this dedication was something to be
services going. I include here the volunteers in the shops acknowledged and celebrated.
who help finance our work, our Soup Vans who are our Former Society state president Michael Liddy shared
public face on our streets, our Tutoring and Reading Clubs his admiration for the program, saying that its good work
and our Call Centre volunteers providing vital information continues to this day, quietly and humbly making a real
for our home visits. difference to people’s lives.
On a personal note, I look forward to volunteering every
Tuesday with the West Heidelberg Reading Club. I
love interacting with the students. Secondly, in my role
as conference Twinning Officer, I’m able to promote
PRAYERS ARE REQUESTED FOR...
my interest in the value of overseas work in providing Deceased members, volunteers, family and friends
invaluable assistance to overseas programs through • Eileen Cotter, former member & president, Manifold
Twinning grants, Assist a Student and other projects. Heights Conference
Every month, I’m also involved with a community lunch • Jack Cullen, member, Parkdale East Conference, former
where our conference assists the Greensborough Anglican member, Middle Park Conference
Church to provide participants with a healthy meal, the • Judy Edwards, wife of Barry & associate member,
chance to make friends and the opportunity to take home Montmorency Conference
some groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables. Finally I value • Dave Ferguson, former volunteer, Fitzroy Soup Van
our contact through the year with our Mini Vinnies providing • Jim Hager, former member, Dallas Conference
hampers and toys at Christmas, and our Young Vinnies • John Haugh, former member, Bendigo (Sacred Heart)
organising Kids’ Days Out for our local families. Conference
We can be extremely proud of what our members and • David Hayes, member & president, St Arnaud Conference
volunteers do to assist people in need. At my Commissioning • William (Bill) Norman OAM, former member, Oakleigh
Mass on 29 April 2018, I encouraged all Vincentians to ‘Let Conference & volunteer, Vinnies Oakleigh
our light shine’. • Mary Phillips, mother of Helen, Maidstone Conference
Let’s be proud of what we do in the community, but let’s not • Kevin Raphael, member, Mitcham Conference
forget that we do it, not in our own name, but in the name of • Pat Ryan, former member, Kilmore Conference
Jesus Christ and in the name of our Church. • Michael Sharry, husband of Laurelle, Manifold Heights
Conference
I look forward to meeting you, working with you and facing
the challenges of addressing the needs of many whose • Heidi Taranto, former member, St Albans West Conference
lives are not as fortunate as our own. • Ken Vivian, former member, Traralgon Conference &
former volunteer, Vinnies Traralgon
Please email any requests for prayers to our Support Services
Kevin McMahon team at support.services@svdp-vic.org.au
State President
A FINE INNINGS: 100 YEARS!
VINNIES WINTER APPEAL
W H AT W O U L D Y O U C H O O S E ?
On 24 January 2018, Frank Toohey (a long-term
member of St Mary’s East Malvern Conference)
When young mother, Jenny, and her two children celebrated his 100th birthday at his home surrounded
fled their family home to escape domestic violence by Norah, his wife of 66 years, their eight children
they found themselves in a desperate situation, and 21 grandchildren.
sleeping rough on the streets and clinging to each Frank’s connection with the St Vincent de Paul Society
other for warmth and safety. This was the first Victoria began more than 70 years ago at St Joseph’s
impossible choice that Jenny faced. Malvern. For 30 years from the early 1960s, Frank was
Legal Adviser to Victorian State Council continuing into
As she continued to struggle to make ends meet Jenny
the 1990s, guiding the Society through issues, such as
was continually challenged with impossible choices.
increasingly sophisticated governance and accountability
Should she feed her family dinner or buy medicine for
standards, evolving government policy, the expanding
her sick daughter? They had run out of money. Her son
needs of Ozanam House, as well as the development of
needed new school shoes, but the bills were due as
Aged Care and Disability Services.
well. She couldn’t afford both.
Frank has been a great servant to his local parish,
This year’s Vinnies Winter Appeal will look at the parishioners and the Society.
unbearable choices people who are living in poverty
John Toohey, son
are forced to make. The sad reality is that Jenny is just
one of almost one million Victorians living in poverty
WHEELS KEEP ON TURNING
today. Recent ABS data also shows that in Victoria
homelessness has increased by 11+ percent over the
past five years. That means more people coming to
Vinnies for help with life’s essentials.
With your support, Vinnies can be there to give people
choices that help provide the sanctuary, security and
safety they deserve. Through home visitations, Vinnies
Soup Vans and our youth and education programs
Vinnies gives people in need hope for a brighter future.
The Vinnies Winter Appeal is a key fundraising appeal
for the year and raises crucial funding for the St Vincent
de Paul Society Victoria to continue its good works.
Promoting the appeal through your conference by
encouraging your parish to participate, and distributing
donation envelopes and posters will help to inspire the Vinnies Footscray Soup Van President Lina Pahor
community to donate and, ultimately, help vulnerable was recently presented with a $2,500 cheque
Victorians. from Moonee Valley Bowling Club president
Brian Gillespie and Fuchs Lubricants Australia
For more information, call our friendly fundraising
team on 03 9895 5959. representative Scott Cassidy. THANK YOU!
MORWELL CONFERENCE | INVESTING IN KIDS' FUTURES
A $2,500 gift from the St Vincent
de Paul Society’s Morwell
Conference to support a local
training centre at Kurnai College,
has allowed the school to expand
its Latrobe Valley Flexible
Learning Option (FLO) program.
The program creates a valuable net
for teenage students struggling with
traditional schooling by offering life
skills, such as cooking, budgeting,
and using laundromat facilities, as
well as new skills they can use after
leaving school.
The Society invested in a
commercial coffee machine
package—which includes coffee,
maintenance and training—that will
equip the students with a valuable
barista ticket allowing them to apply
for a café job with confidence.
Latrobe Valley FLO acting principal
Wayne Bass said the FLO program
was introduced more than three
years ago to cater to the high
number of local disengaged students.
Photo: Mark Dadswell Photography / Newspix
“The program was offered to students starting this term
and taught skills that can help them transition to work,”
he said.
Wayne said the school now caters for students from
year seven to year 11, as well as offering a bridging
program. He added that the school couldn’t exist
without the support and financial aid from local
organisations such as the Society.
The FLO program is a clear example of giving a hand
up not a hand out, said Morwell Conference President
Kevin Hutchinson.
"With five food banks in town, the Society decided
some time ago to concentrate on education and to try
to stem the tide of youth unemployment due to many
kids leaving school too early.
“When we heard about the FLO program, and how it
helps kids prepare for life, both during and after school,
THIS BULLDOG IS A PUSSYCAT
we were determined to help out, because it’s great for Being part of the winning team during this year’s 2018
the wider community and for the kids too," he said. AFLW premiership might be on the top of her list of
achievements, but Bulldogs player Aisling Utri said
Morwell Conference member Marianne Deppeler said being part of the Sunday-night St Vincent de Paul
the Society has also provided funds for the school’s Society Footscray Soup Van comes a close second.
cooking and life-skills program, an annual boot camp “I grew up in a strong Catholic family and was fortunate
for Flinders’ Ranges and sessions with a psychologist. to be surrounded by love,” she said. “The idea that such
“Many of the kids are dealing with serious issues at fortune should be paid back is, I guess, in my DNA. But
home and they simply can’t apply themselves to study volunteering with Vinnies also allows me to just be me.
or even turning up to school regularly,” said Marianne. “There’s a lot of pressure on the footy field and when I’m
“We haven’t had as many calls for assistance lately out on the vans I’m just Ash the Vannie, like everyone else,
and I see this as a good sign.” and it’s great.”
EMAIL MEDIA@SVDP-VIC.ORG.AU TO SHARE YOUR STORY IDEAS
KIDS DAY OUT WITH CASEY YOUNG VINNIES
Recently, Casey Young Vinnies stepped
into their running shoes for a fun run
with a difference.
During the annual Casey in Colour festival,
participants are gleefully bombarded with
FORUM FOCUSES ON EDUCATION
colourful powders. The event has quickly The St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria’s
become a staple of the City of Casey’s Social Justice & Advocacy Committee
calendar with this year’s event bigger and held an education forum at The Pavilion,
better than ever. Box HIll in March as a follow up to the
publication of its report, Back to School –
Dressed in black, our group of 12 from The Real Cost.
Vinnies (six leaders and six children) took The report, which was released in late 2017,
to the 1.5-km track while being blasted and had found that education “was an important
squirted with colourful powders, all to the pathway for overcoming social and economic
sound of loud bass-driven pop music. disadvantages and for enabling young people
to move out of the poverty cycle caused or
It was a day to remember—and not just created by lack of access to an adequate
because getting those powders out of our income which employment can provide”.
clothes posed a particular challenge, but Seventy conference members heard former Victorian Minister
because of the camaraderie and absolute for Education Martin Dixon (pictured right) speak on the need for
enjoyment that was expressed by all. conferences to make contact with their local schools and their local
State Government parliamentarian to draw attention to the increasing
While still very much in the process of costs of education.
finding our feet, our fledgling Casey Young
Vinnies has ambitious plans for 2018, and Catholic Education Office Senior Project Officer, Maria Minto Cahill,
gave an insightful perspective into the lives of two 10-year-old girls
we are striving to get more involved with from very different socio-economic backgrounds. She highlighted
the local community. the need for conferences to reflect on how assistance with education
This year, we hope to invite more families expenses can contribute to ensuring social inclusion for every child.
to participate in our Kids Day Out, as well The presentation was followed by a Q&A forum in which attendees
as recruit new members. were invited to consider two key questions: What were conferences
doing to assist with education expenses? and What advice could they
Eager to be active within the community, provide to government to assist families with education expenses?
we have recently started helping out on Feedback was positive, with most of the participants writing that
the soup vans, the local call centre, and the forum was both relevant and informative. As one anonymous
are currently preparing to visit a nursing participant shared: “There were lots of hints of where to go for
home in the coming months. advocating and assistance; and I now have a better sense of how to
frame issues around education”.
Loan Do Kids Day Out Coordinator
Casey Young Vinnies Margaret Gearon, Chair | Social Justice & Advocacy Committee
• VINNIES FRANKSTON • VAL AWBURN
Vinnies Shops celebrated A VINNIES LEGEND
25 years of care and
service to the people of
Frankston in February
this year.
A number of special guests
came together to celebrate
the milestone, including
Frankston councillor
Steve Toms; St Vincent
de Paul Society Victoria’s
Vice President, Michael
Cashman; Mornington
Celebrating 25 YEARS In February this year, Vinnies Hampton
Regional Council President, volunteer Val Awburn had two reasons
Michael Quinn; and General “Many of our customers followed to celebrate—35 years of service and
Manager Retail, Jeff Antcliff. us to our new shop,” said Lorraine. her 95th birthday. Pictured with Val are
“Twenty-five years in a community “And it’s not just because we have her fellow Monday Vinnies Shop
is a significant time,” said Mr Antcliff. a great selection of quality second- volunteers.
“Vinnies is a quintessential part of hand clothes and bric-a-brac, it’s
the Frankston community, loved for also because they like to shop here.
its role in helping to raise funds for
people doing it tough and as a friendly
No-one rushes anyone, and we’ve
got quite a lot of young volunteers in TRISTAN & HIS BESTIES
point of contact for locals, too. their early 20s and even younger.”
“This 25th anniversary is a perfect Twenty-year-old volunteer Brandon
opportunity to promote, recognise Urquhart says there’s a real sense of
and thank our wonderful volunteers community at the shop.
for serving the people of Frankston.”
Long-term volunteer Lorraine “When I first started almost a year
Auchettl said the shop moved from ago I thought I wouldn’t last, but here
its former premises in Ross Street to I am, still, and I love it. Knowing that
its current location in Young St only I’m working in a shop that’s helping
a year ago, and has enjoyed a long people—that I’m really giving back—
and happy presence in Frankston. is a great feeling. It’s really fulfilling."
THUMBS UP: Groom-to-be ‘Tristan’
POVERTY: HOME TRUTHS
and his 10 besties at Vinnies Echuca.
The men were on the hunt for the
perfect outfit to wear at Tristan’s buck’s
party. The wonderful Vinnies volunteers
The 2018 Vinnies CEO Sleepout The Vinnies CEO Sleepout will got into the spirit of things and even
campaign is now officially in bring together over 300 of the moved the clothes racks to take this
full swing around Australia. St state’s most respected business shot of all the guys.
Vincent de Paul Society Victoria and community leaders, from a
CEO, Sue Cattermole, will be variety of sectors, to sleep outside
rolling out a sleeping bag for the
third year in a row and aiming
their comfort zone for a night.
The goal is raise over $1million
CALENDAR DATES
both events, to support Vinnies 2018 Winter Appeal
to raise $10,000 for Vinnies, as a conference work through home
key ambassador for the Society. 1 May 2018 to 31 August 2018
visitation and assistance centres.
“I’m delighted to announce that The whole Vinnies team is 2018 Vinnies CEO Sleepout
this year we will not only be encouraged to nominate business Melbourne: Thursday 21 June 2018
hosting a Vinnies CEO Sleepout and community leaders, and to help Geelong: Thursday 28 June 2018
in Melbourne, but also in Geelong. to raise funds for Sue’s campaign.
You can donate online https://www. A Call to Serve — 2018 Chapter
This will be the first time the Saturday 15 September 2018
ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/
event has been hosted in regional sue-cattermole/melbourne, or
Victoria and is in direct response 2018 Anti-Poverty Week
run offline fundraisers and seek
to the growing need in the area. assistance from the events team 14-20 October 2018
We have experienced a 68 percent to process them on your behalf Annual General Meeting
rise for welfare support in the (contact details below). Saturday 20 October 2018
greater Geelong district in the past You can also follow and join
three years – so the the conversation online via the Thanksgiving Mass
time to act is now,” hashtags #PovertyHomeTruths and Tuesday 13 November 2018
said Sue. #CEOSleepoutAU.
To learn more about the Vinnies CEO Sleepout please visit ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY VICTORIA INC.
www.ceosleepout.org.au or contact the Vinnies CEO Sleepout Locked Bag 4800, Box Hill Vic 3128
Manager Kate Fitzpatrick at kate.fitzpatrick@svdp-vic.org.au P 03 9895 5800 | F 03 9895 5850
E info@svdp-vic.org.au | W vinnies.org.au
WE ENDEAVOUR TO INCLUDE AS MANY ARTICLES AS POSSIBLE IN EACH ISSUE OF SOCIETYNEWS.
YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE WELCOME, PLEASE FORWARD TO: MEDIA@SVDP-VIC.ORG.AU
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