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.
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.
“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.”
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 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.