VCAL News Articles

                   What is Shrove Tuesday?

On the 25th  February the St. Joseph’s College Echuca VCAL cohort took part in kicking off the start of Lent with Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent. Shrove Tuesday is important within the Christian religion as it is the day of feasting before giving up something for 40 days to represent Jesus’ time in the desert and the sacrifices he made for his religion. Lent is the season for reflection and preparation before the rush of Easter.

Shrove Tuesday is still important today as it's all about raising money for those less fortunate and donating the money to them. This year the VCAL cohort made the pancakes from scratch and cooked them in order to make and raise money for Caritas. The VCAL team made 500 pancakes and sold them to the St. Joseph’s community. There were two different locations set up around the school, one infront of the basketball courts and another infront of the teacher’s staff room, with the VCAL students assigned to the different locations to sell the pancakes. The VCAL cohort worked on their skills of working as a team, dealing with handling money, managing a money float and communicating with other fellow students.

VCAL decided to sell the pancakes at $1 for one or three for $2, Overall the VCAL cohort raised around $300. The money raised was then donated to Caritas to help those in need and less fortunate. The money for Caritas will help those less fortunate such as families from Third World countries. The money will help with children going to school, been fed, having bedding, clothing, schooling needs and other things, and also help families be able to feed their families, access to clean water and other things that are necessary in having a normal human live.

By Hallie Burthchell

On 19th and 20th February, a group of eight VCAL students attended the Father Bob Maguire Foundation to provide food relief and social inclusion to provide assistance to those in need. We as a team volunteered our time to help those in need, as well as gaining the opportunity for ourselves to realise we are extremely lucky to have access to meals, shelter and support. The  Father Bob Maguire Foundation, located in Melbourne, is on a mission to end homelessness and disadvantage by giving all kids and adults a fair go, so they have the right to be nourished mentally, physically, and emotionally.

After we arrived at the Father Bob Maguire Foundation, we began preparing and cooking salads, meats and fruit salad that later were distributed to less fortunate people. To see the process that was involved to prepare, cook and serve the food had an impact on me because anyone can donate to an organisation but they never find out or experience what is involved to get the donated materials to those in need. As a team, the food that was made is nutritional as those in need have limited access to healthy foods due to a variety of circumstances.

by Carissa Hamilton

On the 28th  February, 2020, the St. Joseph’s College, Echuca, VCAL Team set out to clean up their  local area, which was Scenic Drive. The VCAL Team registered on the Clean Up Australia Day website and were  sent the equipment to participate in Clean up Australia Day.

In 1989 an 'average Australian bloke' (Ian Kiernan) had an idea to make a difference in his own backyard - Sydney Harbour. This idea has now become  Australia’s largest community-based environmental event, Clean Up Australia Day. Any person can register a place they plan to clean up on the Clean Up Australia Day. You can do this by registering on the Clean Up Australia Day website and others can join them there.

The VCAL Team at St. Joseph’s College, Echuca, registered their students on the website and were sent Clean Up Australia Day bags, gloves and a needle disposal box. Activities on the day include picking up plastic and paper items on the ground such as chip packets, plastic straws and disposable cups. We also picked up  recyclable items like bottles, cans and cartons.

The VCAL Team spent two and a half hours walking around Scenic Drive cleaning up all of these items with the assistance of the local Council, who helped by to picking up larger, heavy items.

The Team were very succesful, picking up a lot of these items in the area. We sent down one of our own from Echuca Delux Reporters to cover the story and check out what they were doing. We gathered some great information and got an insight from some students on how  they are making a positive effect on the environment by Cleaning up Australia. One student was quoted, “‘What we are doing as a team now is only little, but it means so much more. “ These students are doing some great work for the community and making a positive statement on waste.

By Lachlan Keane