22 September 2017

By Margaret O'Donnell, Principal, St Gregory the Great School, Doncaster

School’s come together to support the important work of St Vincent de Paul in the annual Sleep Out.

On 22 June I will take part in the Vinnies (St Vincent De Paul) Sleep Out for the homeless at Melbourne University. This will be my sixth sleep out, aimed at raising awareness of the plight of the homeless.

Over the past five years many other school principals have joined me and together we have tried to help our students and our communities to raise money for those less fortunate than ourselves. As Catholic schools we try to put our Catholic Faith into action as we engage in social justice initiatives to help others.

At St Gregory the Great school, the support of teachers, parents and the community led to the direct involvement of the students as the Grade 5 and 6 students undertook a school sleep-out for the first time in 2014. This year’s grade 5/6 sleep out will take place in our school hall next Friday evening.

For the past three years every child at St Gregory the Great School has also made a ‘sleep out’ bear. This little bear had its own sleeping bag and our children made a donation to the Vinnies Sleep Out appeal and took this bear home. For a change, this year we are building 2D houses, which are to be located on the walls of one of our play areas. Each child is decorating a brick for their class house as a permanent reminder of our tangible help for homeless people in our city.

We are also holding our annual 'soup' lunch, where each child will be given a cup of soup and a bread roll for their lunch, and invited to make a donation to the sleep out appeal. The money raised this year will go towards the work of the Vinnies soup vans. These vans bring a meal to the homeless on our city streets.

During the past five years we at St Gregory the Great School, with the help of many in the wider community, have raised over $50,000 to help the homeless. We may only be one school, but as we often say to our children, if we all make a small effort then together we can make a big difference.

To contribute to Vinnies work for the homeless find my donation page at www.ceosleepout.org.au under CEO / VIC.