The Catholic Weekly 5 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 5 5, April, 2020 AS Amember of the St Vincent de Paul Society I have been visiting sick, poor, sad, lonely people, people with disabil- ities, those living with men- tal health issues and yes those isolated (for one reason or an- other) for more than half my life. So what we are facing now it not new, but the job losses, stand downs and redundan- cies are on a scale not seen before in my lifetime. I believe everyone is af- fected in one way or another, directly or indirectly ... with health issues or financial is- sues and in many cases both. Many people are fright- ened, insecure and of course worried. My immediate and extend- ed family are no exception, ei- ther is my place of work. And as you could guess our work at St Vinnies has never been busier and we are about to be inundated with a level of requests that is unknown and impossible to budget for. Yesterday while driving from one job to another I felt an emotion of sadness come over me and realised I had tears coming from my eyes and rolling down my cheek. I had just finished talking to a permanent subcontractor who had eight staff and four big machines ... the likelihood is he will go bankrupt, the news came on the radio and it wasn’t good ... then visions from last nights news came to mind of the long queues at Centrelink. I pulled over the side of the road and read another email requesting assistance with $2,000 back rent or an evic- tion notice will be acted on, this dear mother hasn’t even finished her chemotherapy treatment. I cried some more, as though I was praying the Five Sorrowful Mysteries or walk- ing the Stations of the Cross. The next email I read made the tears continue, only this time the first half was tears of sadness: it told of an elderly couple stuck on the third floor unit, the gentleman recover- ing from a stroke the wife not having great mobility, no fam- ily support and unable to ac- ¾ ¾ Tony Cranney Tony Cranney (left) and Phil Lesmond packing hampers ready to be dispatched. PHOTO:ALPHONSUS FOK Much sadness and pain, at a level of which many of us have never experienced, let’s hope and pray it can be matched by an unprec- edented out pouring of generosity and acts of Christian charity.” Turning tears into smiles cess food and basic essentials most of us take for granted. At that point the tears turned to joy and hope as I read of two beautiful ladies frommy conference,Mary and Colleen who had been to our food bank (which we recent- ly put in place to help cope with the increased requests for help) loaded up the goods, topped up at the local butcher and carried the six heavy bags up the three flights of stairs to the great delight and relief of these dear souls. The above stories are real and happened in the last few days and will now sadly be a daily occurrence. Much sadness and pain, at a level of which many of us have never experienced, let’s hope and pray it can be matched by an unprecedent- ed out pouring of generosity and acts of Christian charity. I would like to take this op- portunity to thank all of my dedicated members, volun- teers and staffwho continue to give hope, when all seems lost. Food to the hungry, love to those in need and encourage them to continue their Love of Christ through their service to those who call upon us in their hour of need. And I must thank all mem- bers of schools, churches, the business sector, clubs etc and the wider community who, through their generosity and ongoing support, allowus to at least in some cases turn tears of pain and suffering into tears of joy. Tony Cranney is the Central council president of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Sydney “IT WAS the worst case I’ve ever seen,” Vinnies volunteer Mary said. “I knocked on the door to find this elderly couple liter- ally sitting there hungry, he was in his late 70s and recov- ering from a stroke and una- ble to walk and his wife wasn’t much more mobile. “They lived on the third floor of an old unit block in Jannali and struggled to get up and down the stairs, and the few times they ventured out found the shelves bare and re- turned empty handed. “My own cupboard was pretty empty so I asked the Foodbank for a hamper and then went to Woollies and purchased milk, eggs, bread and what little meat I could get. “The stairs almost killedmy friend Colleen who is also a volunteer as we had six heavy bags to lug up the three flights. They came to the door and were so very, very grateful. “With no family in Austral- ia I’d hate to think what would have happened to them if they didn’t appear on our radar.” This is just one of the thou- sands of weekly requests for help currently being received by St Vincent de Paul, the larg- est in living memory. And while the more tra- ditional needs like food and assistance with bills still ex- ists, the organisation is being flooded by a new breed of people requesting help who have never had to approach government or a charity in the past but found themselves in crisis due to the pandemic. Add to this the loss of a large number of Vinnies vol- unteers, as some are elderly Vincentians are stepping in tomake an urgently needed difference ¾ ¾ Debbie Cramsie Society begins a revolution and have understandably taken a step back to look after their own health leaving the organisation grappling under the heavy load. Sydney Vinnies president Tony Cranney believes the demand for their services will increase by up to 100 per cent in the coming months with the type of assistance need- ed much more complex than ever before. “Traditionally a lot of our work has been helping with supplying food and keeping Vinnies volunteers Mary and Colleen collecting supplies for people in the Sutherland Shire in need of help. PHOTO:ALPHONSUS FOK The last fewweeks has been such a daunting yet incredible time, seeing both the desperation but also inspirational work being done by our army of volunteers.” Tony Cranney Some of the food items donated by the local community. PHOTO:ALPHONSUS FOK the electricity on but this is a whole newball game,” he said. “People who have never dreamed of needing assis- tance and who have lost their jobs are coming to us looking for help with mortgages and rent, assistance for phone plans, laptops for their kids schooling, help with paying for medical appointments, and the list goes on and on. “Then there are those who maybe own their homes but are scared and isolated and quite often we may be the only contact with the outside world they have. “The last few weeks has been such a daunting yet in- credible time, seeing both the desperation but also inspira- tional work being done by our army of volunteers.” Some of the most com- mon requests being received include assistance with rent or mortgages, food, electri- cal, toiletries, medical scripts, clothing, fuel vouchers, home schooling assistance and fur- niture. Vinnies has launched a food drive of non-perishable foods and toiletries, which can be dropped off at any of six locations found at www. vinnies.org.au/fooddrive while expressions of interest from new volunteers are also being sought on their website at www.vinnies.org.au/kind- nessrevolution NEWS