Community Service

St Joey's Van

Recount

It was a blisteringly hot day when the four of us signed up for Joey’s Van. Despite this, we were extremely excited to take part in it and do good for our community. After piling our bags into Mr McPhail’s LUXURIOUS car, we headed off to St Joseph’s, where we met Antonia, Anthony and Nadine. We proceeded to say a quick prayer and were provided with our hats before packing the van full of food and heading off to Dandenong Plaza. Once we arrived at Dandenong Plaza, we set up 2 tables and placed the delicious food such as soup, sausages, cakes and fruits on them as well as coffee, tea, cordial and milo to serve. Many of the homeless people were already waiting and lined up to get their food for the day. They lined up for seconds and even for thirds, some even coming back for fourth servings. The people were friendly and they were complimenting the food and engaging in conversation with us. It wasn’t long before all the food had run out and we bid goodbye to everyone that came. We then were heading back to St Joseph’s. We cleaned all the dishes used, laughing with and at each other throughout. We even took many photos together to commemorate the great time we spent together. Afterwards, we did a quick debriefing and prayer, saying our thoughts about the experience and how we felt throughout. Overall, it was an extremely fun experience and everyone was pleased that we took part.

 Reflection

Joey’s Van was an eyeopener for all of the girls that attended. We never really realise the strong impact that food has on people who do not have the same luxuries as us. It was a good time for us to reflect on the small things that we own and be grateful that we have more than what we need. Homelessness is a significant problem in Australia but being able to contribute and feed those who don’t have the luxuries of eating homemade meals made us feel that there needs to be a bigger change. The most interesting part to most of us was that there were some teenagers about our age who would also be lining up to get their only meal of the day. The patrons that attended were very nice to all of us and we were happy that we were able to feed people who are not as fortunate as we are. Our hands-on approach to this project allowed us to enjoy the time that was spent together. We are very grateful to have this opportunity to give back to the community and we strongly encourage next year’s year 11’s to participate in such an amazing experience.

Joanne Joy and Sandra Nguyen, Year 11 Students

Every year all schools in Victoria are invited to nominate a student that they feel are up for a challenge. The Lord Somers Camps take 100 young people aged between 16-18 from all over the state and brings them together for a week of problem solving, physical activities, leadership opportunities and a chance to meet some new people. There is one camp for boys and one camp for girls. Only the best of the best get selected.

This year we are very proud to announce the our Year 11 student Mandy Quach has made it through all levels of selection and is headed off the Lady Somers Camp with 99 other amazing Victorian young women for a whole week in January 2020. We wish her well on her adventure and congratulate her on being brave enough to try something so exciting. Well done Mandy!

Bronwen Auty

Yr 11 Student Development Coordinator