Tuesday, 24 January 2012 

EXCEPTIONAL numbers of finishing year 12 students have decided to carry their passion for social justice into young adulthood. More than 20 students from Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, Braybrook are heavily involved with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, serving people in need within their local area.

The alumni of the College run fundraising efforts, such as collecting donations at Wiggles concerts and wrapping presents for people over Christmas. However, the highlight for most seems to be helping people directly. “It’s a great experience and it was something for me to do when finishing year 12,” says Jenaye Lay. “I felt happy to help out. It made me realise that it would be something I would like to do on a regular basis.”

Over December and January, the volunteers have assisted a great number of people in their community in a wide variety of ways. Soup Van was a highlight for many of the alumni, as it gave them an opportunity to deliver much needed food and conversation to people in their local communities. “It was really eye-opening seeing how many families there were who weren’t able to afford basic food.” says Wenly Yang, alumnus of the college.

The group works extensively with children from underprivileged backgrounds. Several alumni of Caroline Chisholm Catholic College helped to lead a week long kids’ camp on the Mornington Peninsula. Leading up to Christmas, many of the new volunteers organised and ran a family fun day at their old school. This involved a treasure hunt, a giant ball and Christmas presents given to all children by a very special guest: “I was pretty nervous about being an Asian Santa,” says Huong Nguyen. “But it was lots of fun in the end.”

The involvement of the alumni is making ripples throughout the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Rohan Smith coordinates all young adult Vinnies volunteer works across Victoria. “We’ve been so impressed with the numbers and enthusiasm of volunteers coming from Caroline Chisholm Catholic College,” writes Rohan. “The school’s Vinnies Social Justice Program has been so effective that we’re now working with their staff to develop a similar template to introduce in other Catholic schools. The key with this has been teacher involvement: organising guest speakers, running social justice activities in the school and hosting training through Vinnies.”

It is to be hoped that young adults graduating from Caroline Chisholm Catholic College will continue to choose to serve their communities through volunteer work, and that the partnership with the St. Vincent de Paul Society remains strong and fruitful.

Justin Matthys is a teacher at Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and a Teach for Australia Associate