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St Joseph's 2009

Go-get 'em
St. Joseph Vinnies have at least one thing on their minds...food!!! This group of go-get 'em students have been out delivering meals to the community on our weekly Meals-on-wheels round since the second week of term. They definitely know their stuff! We deliver meals to at least 15 homes on average per week and have a mixture of standard, diabetic, pureed and fresh fruit meals and desserts to give out. This means the students need to be on to it as far as knowing which meals go where - what strikes me is just how quickly the new ones on board this year are learning the ropes - way to go team!!! What's more don't be fooled by the photo, the Vinnies at St. Joseph's are definitely not an all girls conference. It has been awesome to see a lot more of the guys up with the play this year as well. This group will definitely get your wheels turning!

Meals on Wheels
Okay, just to prove that there really are guys in the St. Joseph's Vinnies group, we managed to catch Callum McIntosh, out delivering Meals-on-Wheels on Monday 9 March. Callum is a mischevious Year 7 Vinnie with a great sense of fun! His biggest achievement as a Vinnie so far this year was not only learning the ropes of the round but also mastering closing the Vinnies van door - yes Callum we may be able to send you to the door-closing Olympics yet!!!

The Game of Knots.
Why is it that all Vinnies just love tying themselves in knots?!! Here the St. Joseph Vinnies are playing a game of knots which is proving no easy feat! One attempt even saw them fall into a huge bundle of arms and legs on the floor! Hmmm...it's just as well they are far more skilled at other things.

Elections.

On Monday 16 March, the St. Joseph Vinnies voted for Office Bearers with an equal number of girls and boys getting positions. Our St. Joseph's President is Rosa Wilkie, Christy Wells is Vice-President, Robbie Day took on the role of Secretary and Alex Kroch is Treasurer. Christy Wells, Robbie Day and Alex Kroch are all attending the Vinnies Camp coming up the first weekend of April - a great opportunity for them not only to get out there and meet heaps of Vinnies from other conferences and have a great time but also to develop skills they can take back with them to share with their conference. Well done team! You're definitely going places!!!

Meals on wheels.
Some of the lovely residents that we deliver Meals-on-Wheels to posed for us as we carried out our weekly rounds. These photos were used to put on a poster put together by the St. Joseph Vinnies showing the work they do out in the community. This poster was then displayed at Camp, at the regional St. Vincent de Paul Society meeting over the holidays and will be donated to the school so that others can see the enjoyment that everyone gets from involvement in a project such as this.

The St. Joseph Vinnies were a buzz with excitement as they took the wonderful Bumblebees that they made at Camp to the children in the Children's Ward of the Nelson Hospital on Monday the 27 April. The Bumblebees were made from old CDs that the students painted and each were carrying a little sign that read, "I hope that you will bee feeling better soon." Although they weren't able to give them to the children personally, their kind deed no doubt helped to cheer the children up.

Heart Foundation Apples
The St. Joseph Vinnies proved they were all heart as they set about stickering a number of apples for the Heart Foundation on Monday the 25 May. Although our main purpose was simply to help the Heart Foundation out, the apples we understand were then going to be used by the Heart Foundation on Thursday 28 May to be given out to people to celebrate Tobacco Free day.

Art Attack
The St. Joseph Vinnies were definitely having an art attack on Monday 8 June as they set about creating pasta frames to be given to the Meals-on-wheels recipients who had their photo taken with a Vinnie last term. Great excitement was also had when these Vinnies heard back from Vinnie pen-pals in Hawkes Bay and set about creating cards in reply.

Kidsline
The St. Joseph Vinnie spent time this term brainstorming issues that young people face and how these issues can make young people feel. With an increase in bullying in schools and alarming statistics as to youth suicide in our country, this topic helped the young people to be aware and sensitive to the needs of other young people around them. This learning was further highlighted by creating posters for the Kidsline Poster Competition. As a part of this focus the St. Joseph Vinnies reflected on the importance of listening to others and rated themselves as to how good a listener they felt they were.

Naomi Courts
On the 27 July, the 10 and 31 August the St. Joseph Vinnies visited the residents of Naomi Courts resthome. They did a combination of crafts games and other activities with them and as you can see had lots of fun!

Assisting Riding for the Disabled:
On the 6, 13 and 20 September the St. Joseph Vinnies headed along to Riding for the Disabled in Nelson to offer some hands-on assistance. Their tasks involved filling up buckets of water for the horses as well as moving sand and wood chip to the horse stalls as a layering for the ground.

Vinnies Mass:
On the 20 September at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Stoke, the St. Joseph Vinnies took part in the Vinnies Mass by taking up offertry and reading the Prayers of the Faithful. It was great to see these young people living out their faith in this active way.

Christmas Decorations:
The St. Joseph Vinnies have already begun to get into a little of that Christmas cheer by making Christmas decorations for rest-homes in the local area. From long festive chains to stained glass windows, the St. Joseph Vinnies have got Christmas covered. As part of these Christmas preparations, some of the St. Jospeh Vinnies visited Tui Glen Resthome on the 9 November where they performed for the residents through instrumental pieces played on the violin, singing and dancing. They were even able to teach the residents a NZ version of the 12 days of Christmas and of course present the resthome with a few of the wonderful Christmas decorations they had made.

Reindeer Antics:
The St. Joseph Vinnies had lots of fun making wooden reindeer for the many residents on their Meals-on-Wheels round. Their reindeer were accompanied by little bags of reindeer poop (chocolate melts) and a fun poem about Santa's reindeer. They were delivered to the residents on the last day the St. Joseph Vinnies participated in the Meals-on-Wheels round for this year. The Vinnies also enjoyed carol-singing one each of the resident's doorsteps as well as at Naomi Courts Rest-home and the Nelson Hospice. They were accompanied by a talented Korean exchange student on her flute

Congratulations:
Congratulations must go to the following St. Joseph Vinnies who met all requirements needed to pass their bronze level accreditation this year. They are Peije Hollander-fahie, Charlotte Newnham, Kalena Stosser, Christy Wells, Rosa Wilkie, Robbie Day, Sean Young, Callum McIntosh, Enya Crook, Lauren James, Patrick Hassan, Elena Louverdis, Rebecca Nott and Kas Payne.

A special thanks goes to all Vinnies who participated this year for your willingness to give of your time to serve others.

Good luck to all those moving on to College next year.

St Pauls Vinnies 2009

Under Way

Although the St. Paul's started out as just a little group this year - they are definitely growing with a few more new people along each week! Jennifer Armstrong was one of the Vinnies team last year and has this year taken on the role of President; Sakara Normington-DeMello was voted in as Vice-President, Madeleine Wilkinson as Secretary and Suzzanah Fisk as Treasurer. We are also fortunate to have Chelsea Glover as part of the team for at least the first term this year as well. Chelsea was one of the Vinnies from last year and despite now being home-schooled is prepared to bike to St. Paul's each Wednesday to take part in our Vinnies meetings - good on you Chelsea!!!

Vinnies fear factor challenge

Three of the St. Paul's Vinnies proved that they were well and truly up for any fear factor challenge on Tuesday the 12 May as they headed off to assist Riding for the Disabled. After swallowing their lunch on the way, this group of three brave young ladies spent the next 45 minutes picking up horse manure from three paddocks. This manure will be sold by RDA to help with on-going costs. Of course for the other two young ladies who felt less able to cope with the challenge, they spent that time raking up leaves. Riding for the Disabled were thrilled with the assistance we were able to provide and although this was one task the Vinnies weren't expecting they are all keen to come back next week and the following week to help out.

RDA

On Tuesday 19 May Jennifer Armstrong and Sakara DeMello-Normington assisted Riding for the Disabled in Richmond once again by cleaning up the horse pens. This wasn't a terribly pleasant activity but the girls did a great job and can feel very proud of their efforts!!

Now that netball trails were over, there were a definitely a lot more hands on deck on Tuesday 26 May as the Saint Paul's Vinnies once again headed off to Riding for the Disabled. This was their last day of their three weeks stint this term assisting RDA. With gloves on and buckets in hand, they set about cleaning up the horse paddocks

Sakara and Jennifer ended up as our Fear Factor champs at the end of the three weeks! However everyone who had helped got to have an ice cream at McDonald's to celebrate their efforts assisting RDA and a mission well done.

The St. Paul's Vinnies spent time this term brainstorming issues that young people face and how these issues can make young people feel. With an increase in bullying in schools and alarming statistics as to youth suicide in our country, this topic helped the young people to be aware and sensitive to the needs of other young people around them. This learning was further highlighted by creating posters for the Kidsline Poster Competition. As a part of this focus the St. Paul's Vinnies reflected on the importance of listening to others and rated themselves as to how good a listener they felt they were.

Community Recognition

On the 18th June St. Paul's Vinnies, Jennifer Armstrong and Suzzanah Fisk attended the Nelson Volunteer Youth Awards after the St. Paul's Vinnies from last year were nominated by Help Free the Children Trust for their work assisting this organisation. The St. Paul's Vinnies felt proud of their certificates of recognition signed by the Mayor.

School Assembly

On the 26 June, the St. Paul's Vinnies put on a whole school assembly. For three weeks the St. Paul's Vinnies had 2 Vinnie sessions a week as opposed to just one in order to put time and effort into their assembly preparation. Their hard work certainly paid off. In the words of John Dorman, the Principal, the assembly was fantastic.

Friendship Bracelets

Okay, so what are the St. Paul's Vinnies up to now? Quite simply they are making friendship bracelets for the girls at Salisbury Girls School. These will be presented to the girls along with cards that the St. Paul's Vinnies have made. After all the work the Vinnies have done during Term 2 looking at how they can become more sensitive to the needs of young people around them, this will be a perfect opportunity to form a relationship with these girls and put some of that learning into practice!

Dig this!

The St. Paul's Vinnies have got stuck in to helping out with the Garin College Community Garden during Term Three. On the 28 July they visited Garin College to help establish the layout and then followed this up on the 18 August by planting seeds for the garden. Some of the seedlings produced from doing this were able to be planted in the garden on the 25 September with more ready to be put in after the holidays.

Paper Brick Making

The St. Paul's Vinnies also made a couple of visits to Garin College during Term Three to make paper bricks. These bricks will be dried and stored away for next year when they will be given to St. Vincent de Paul Centres to distribute to people in the community who have fireplaces and are finding it difficult to pay their electricity bills.

Hug Rugs for the Refugees

After the hug rugs that the St. Paul's Vinnies donated to the Nelson Refugee Services last year were snapped up quickly, the Vinnies received a request this year for more. The St. Paul and College Vinnies therefore combined to create a stack of hug rugs which were delivered to the Nelson Refugee Services in August.

Vinnies Mass

Iona Mellor represented the St. Paul's Vinnies at the Vinnies Mass held at St. Francis of Assisi in Stoke on the 20 September. She took an active role in the Mass by doing the second reading. From what we understand she had been part of the choir at her school mass that morning as well so her halo was shining extra especially brightly after that wonderful effort.

Continuing to bloom...

The St. Paul's Vinnies have this term been able to plant seedlings into the Garin College Community Garden that have grown as a result of the seeds the Vinnies planted during Term 2. Already a healthy crop of peas have begun to sprout, with lettuce and silverbeet also taking shape. The produce will be able to be given away to people in need in the community.

Operation Christmas Child

The St. Paul's Vinnies also ran school-wide participation in the Operation Christmas Child Project. A number of shoeboxes were able to be filled with the donations that came in. These shoeboxes will be sent overseas to be given to children who wouldn't otherwise have had the joy of celebrating Christmas

Reindeer Food

The St. Paul's Vinnies had great fun making up 30 bags of sparkly reindeer food for the grandchildren of the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Organisation. It is believed that when the grandchildren make a wish on Christmas Eve and sprinkle this reindeer food on their lawn at night, it will guide Santa's reindeer to their homes. Fingers crossed that it works

Farewell Jessie

Sadly, we farewelled Jessie Webb at the end of Term 4 and wish her all the very best for her move to Christchurch.

Congratulations

Congratulations goes to St. Paul’s students Jennifer Armstrong, Iona Mellor, Jessie Webb, Sakara deMello-Norminton, Bellarosa Lynch, Rachel Cunningham, Eliza McCambridge-Dax and Suzzanah Fisk who passed the bronze level of the Vinnies programme this year.

A special thanks goes to all Vinnies who participated this year for your willingness to give of your time to serve others.

Good luck to all those moving on to College next year.

Feb 2009
The Garin College Vinnies are well underway now. We have no other than Garin's very own Emily Lester as President with Joey Sauer acting as Deputy President. Robert Gunn has taken on the role of Secretary with Sarah Quinney as Treasurer. The Vinnies group has grown in size, here are some of the comments that have been rolling in... "Thrilled with the voting and can't get over the amount of seniors lining up. And the fact that many of them are Yr12s means we're in for a solid year next year! Nice boost..."

Food Room - Be there
" I know plenty of people who are considering joining Vinnies and aren't sure what it's all about so I'll be sure to drag them along (if I have to!) to check it out and see that it's a lot more fun then they might be assuming." Garin College Vinnies this year is definitely rocking! If you haven't bowled along to one of our meetings yet definitely do so. We meet every Friday at 1 o'clock in the Food Room - be there!!!

The Garin College carpark was alive with activity on Friday 13 March as Vinnies bagged apples and pears. The Vinnies are presently selling these bags of fruit to raise funds for camp at Bridge Valley Adventure Centre on the first weekend of April.

Apples for sale! Apples for sale! Come and get your apples - only $2 a bag! The Garin Vinnies headed to the Richmond Farmers Market on Saturday 14 March to set up a stall selling apples and pears. Although we didn't have a huge apple turn-over (no pun intended) we did manage to sell around 25 bags of apples and pears and make $50 for our morning's effort - good on you team!!!

The Garin College Vinnies along with a member of the In-Vince-ables got on board to do some serious FUNdraising at the St. Paul's Gala on the 28 March. This stall not only sold bags of apples and pears but also snake and butterfly puppets the Vinnies had made and other miscellaneous items. The puppets proved to be the best-seller, completely selling out in no time.

Music, dance, poetry-reading and even joke-telling was the flavour of Garin College Vinnies visit to Stillwater Gardens recently. The residents were well and truly entertained by this talented bunch who proved they had what it takes to shine.

Members of the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Organisation enjoyed a morning playing a variety of games with some of the Garin College Vinnies on Tuesday 31 March at their monthly meeting. The Vinnies not only competed in a battle of wills but also ended the morning by singing a variety of songs to these Grandparents as well. The Vinnies topped off their morning by dropping bags of apples into the Stoke and Richmond SVdP Centres to be given away and checking up on a resident of a local resthome who they had got to know well

In this photo Garin College Vinnie, Keeli Ferris, is beginning work on her canvas masterpiece at the recent Equip Xtreme Vinnies Camp. Seven of these masterpieces were done by Vinnies while at Camp and on Friday the 15 May were auctioned off at an art exhibition held at the Lord Rutherford Retirement Village to raise funds for the Nelson Hospice.

Garin College Vinnies Lily Warner and Emily Gill spent Monday 18 May at Garin College working on the latest Vinnies project. The Vinnies have joined forces with the Garin College Environment Group to create a community garden that will in turn assist people in need in the community. The day was originally designated as a school work day. However these girls very kindly gave up their time to work in the garden instead.

Eat your heart out Jamie Oliver! The Garin College Vinnies had a fantastic time making apple crumbles on Friday 22 May. A special thanks goes to Jo Calt, Garin College's Food Technology teacher for her assistance with this project.

The Garin College Vinnies had just as much fun delivering these apple crumbles to residents of the flats adjoining the Richmond and Stoke Catholic Churches as well as the Parish priests on Friday the 29 May.

Garin's Fear Factor Challenge

On the 5 and 19 of June the Garin College Vinnies assisted Riding for the Disabled by cleaning up the horse paddocks. Although this wasn't a terribly pleasant task, it taught the Vinnies that helping others isn't always easy however it is important that each of us move out of our comfort zones at times to give other people a hand. The horse manure collected from the paddocks is bagged and sold as garden fertilizer to fund the service that RDA has to offer.

Efforts Rewarded

Of course the Vinnies efforts in persevering with this task were rewarded on Wednesday 1July when those who were involved assisting RDA had the opportunity of going to McDonald's for an ice-cream.

Dazzling the Audience

On the 26 June, members of the Garin College Vinnies Conference went to Wensley House to perform for the residents there. We had talented musicians on the violin, flute, guitar and piano wow the audience as well as a fantastic jazz dance performance. Move over Broadway! The Vinnies are set to take the stage.

Community Garden

The second Garin College Community Garden working bee for this term was held on the 27 June. The Vinnies involved all dug into the task of emptying large tractor tyres filled with soil. There is present debate as to how safe tyres are for gardening purposes.

Faith and Light Fiesta

The Garin College Vinnies were invited to perform at the Faith and Light Fiesta on the 28 June at Crossroads Restaurant in Brightwater. We had Vinnies entertain the community with music played on the cello, violin, Keyboard and guitar as well as singing and a jazz dance performance. The College Vinnies were also able to present the community with little paper birds that they had made for them.

Garin College Resthome Concert

On the 7 August the Garin College Vinnies put on their annual Resthome Concert for a variety of resthome residents throughout the area. This was a great success with a huge line up of talent and the largest audience ever.

Daffodil Day Collecting

On the 28 and 29 August the Vinnies got out into the community to assist the Cancer Society with Daffodil Day collecting. This activity followed a talk given earlier in the term at one of the Vinnies meetings by Wendy Hope, Manager of the Nelson Cancer Society.

Concert for Stoke Senior Citizens

On the 1 September, Vinnies from Garin College and the College Vinnies group performed for the Stoke Senior Citizens group. From singing and dancing to instrumental pieces, these Vinnies exhibited the great talent these young people have to offer.

Bronze Accreditation

The Garin College Vinnies have been finishing off their training work for their bronze accreditation. Four Garin Vinnies have met all the Bronze-level requirements and will be some of the first Vinnies in NZ to get their bronze pin when this is awarded to them in early December.

Refugee Assistance

The Garin Vinnies also assisted with packing the school van with household goods after Garin College ran a school-wide appeal to help the refugees. The household goods will be used by Refugee Services to help set up houses for Refugees coming in to the area

The Elections

Hang on to your seats because you are in for the time of your life with this bunch of Vinnies. The group has doubled in size from last year and the very cool thing about it is that we have more boys on board! Good on you guys!! Our President for the year is Olympia Ions who was one of the Vinnies team last year. We have two Vice-Presidents, Laura Perks-Hoult and Shania Nicholson. With brother and sister team Francis and Rosette Hailes-Paku taking on the roles of Secretary and Treasurer. So what's on the calendar for term one? This term the Vinnies will be busy bagging and selling apples for the awesome camp we are having in April. A good chance to get in there and support these young people! We also will be visiting Woodlands Resthome after one of the Motueka Vincentians received a request for us to do this at the end of last year.Definitely watch this space! You'll see an awesome team put some faith into action!!!

Woodlands Resthome

On the 12th and 19th March the St. Peter Chanel Vinnies visited residents at Woodlands Resthome. Despite the fact that many of the residents the Vinnies visited were in their 90's - they made a huge hit with the young people and relationships were quickly formed! The Vinnies drew around the hand and wrote down the favourite childhood memory of the resident they visited. There was one resident who had even been in the 1922 Murchison Earthquake and could tell the children all about his experience of it!

What's Olympia up to?

What is the President of St. Peter Chanel Vinnies up to? Olympia Ions is busy on a poster that highlights the activities these Vinnies have been doing. This poster will be shared at Camp on Saturday morning as each conference gives a report as to this term's events.

Easter Poster

The handprints and stories the Vinnies gathered during their visits to Woodlands Resthome were made into this beautiful Easter poster that was donated to Woodlands Resthome on Easter Sunday. Now the residents will be able to enjoy finding out a little more about each other.

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies have been busy putting a smile on the faces of the Woodlands Resthome residents with the cards and happy face biscuits they made for the dears they enjoy visiting.

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies delivered their cards and biscuits to Woodlands Resthome on Thursday 4 June. They were delighted to also find while there, that their wonderful poster they had created is still in pride of place up on the wall

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies spent time this term brainstorming issues that young people face and how these issues can make young people feel. With an increase in bullying in schools and alarming statistics as to youth suicide in our country, this topic helped the young people to be aware and sensitive to the needs of other young people around them. This learning was further highlighted by creating posters for the Kidsline Poster Competition. As a part of this focus the St. Peter Chanel Vinnies reflected on the importance of listening to others and rated themselves as to how good a listener they felt they were.

Abbeyfield House

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies created cards and tissue pockets for the residents of Abbeyfield House. Considering just how cold Winter has been this year, it seemed the best mid-winter gift to give these folks. The Vinnies paid a visit to the residents of Abbeyfield House on the 2 July.

Spinning - A Tale

A few of the Vinnies returned to Abbeyfield House on the 27 August to be shown by Agnes Climmet, a resident there, the fine art of spinning.

A great stART to Term 3

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies got off to a great stART in Term 3 as they created masterpieces for the Jack Inglis Friendship Hospital. These were donated to the hospital on the 13 August. A large write-up about this featured in the Motueka Guardian newspaper.

Blooming Good Fun

On the 20 August the Vinnies visited Woodlands Rest-home and created two bunches of flowers made from the handprints of the residents. These bunches now stand in vases adorning the rest-home lounge..

Firewood Stacking

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies assisted with firewood stacking during the term. This wood will go to helping people in need in the Motueka Community who have fireplaces.

Pampering Session

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies visited the residents of the Jack Inglis Memorial Hospital on the 22 October where they ran a beauty and pampering session - painting nails as well as offering manicures and hand massages. We even had some of the boys involved which was great to see!

Paper-Block Making

What is it about mulched paper and water that proves a hit with students everyone and means only one thing - lots of fun! The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies tried their hand at paper-block making recently and had a whale of a time! Here is Laura Perks-Hoult, one of the Vinnies demonstrating just how it is done!.

Bead Necklaces

The St. Peter Chanel Vinnies are presently making bead necklaces. We are hoping to sell these with the proceeds raising money to buy a letterbox for the residents of the Jack Inglis Memorial Hospital.

Farewell Daniel

Sadly, we farewelled Daniel Balkhausen towards the end of Term 4 and wish him all the very best for life in the North Island

Congratulations

Congratulations goes to all the St. Peter Chanel Vinnies who completed their bronze level accreditation this year - Olympia Ions, Rebecca Lowe, Fiona Lowe, Brittany Watkins, Laura Perks-Hoult, William Dugdale, Daniel Balkhausen, Rosette Hailes-Paku, Francis Hailes-Paku, Bede Carr and Jessica Brooks. Thank you for your willingness to give of your time to serve others.

Good luck to all those moving on to College next year.

Sacred Heart School - Reefton Vinnies

This term the Young Vinnies have organized 3 events to raise money for people who don't have as much as us. The first activity we organized was making cards for all the mothers who went to church at our school mass on Mothers Day. The cards were handed out as mothers walked through the door to church. We spent a few days making these cards. Our next activity is a Freaky Friday mufti day on the 5th of June. Everyone can come to school dressed up as something scary or they can just dress up. It is a gold coin donation to come to school in mufti and the money will go the the Saint Vincent De Paul in Reefton. The last event to raise money is a little donation jar we have at school and every Friday we(the whole school) bring along 10 cents to go into the jar and at assembly we leave the jar by the door so that parents can put a little donation in. At the end of the year we will buy things for people who have hardly anything at Christmas time. Every Friday at lunchtime we hold a Vinnies meeting. Jayme Archer Young Vinnies President.

Rugs

The Sacred Heart Vinnies in Reefton have been busy. As you can see by these awesome creations they are holding up, they have been making knee rugs for the elderly in their community. These students have been learning how to do blanket stitch and have stitched these rugs themselves. It was a great pleasure catching up with them on Tuesday 4 August.

Favourite Character Day

Fun was high on the agenda the day the Sacred Heart Vinnies got to come to school dressed as their favourite character. The money raised through this event will go to the Reefton Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Market Day

The Sacred Heart Vinnies were part of the Reefton market day on Saturday 14 November, setting up a stall on the main street of Reefton to sell all sorts of wonderful donations that had come in for this event. The money from this activity will go towards helping people in need in the Reefton community at Christmas time

Grand Finale

The Sacred Heart Vinnies finished the year in grand style when they presented Mrs McMahon, the President of the Reefton St. Vincent de Paul Society with $288.10 at their last school assembly for the year. The first ever group of Reefton Vinnies were also presented with their SVdP pin in front of a large group of parents and grandparents who had gathered.

Well done Shianne, Brandon, Samantha (Sam), Jayme, Karen, Elle, Joanna, and Courtney.

Compassion in Action

Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who? Well it definitely wasn't the awesome bunch of youth that belong to this Vinnies group! This new Young Adults group catering for youth 13-18 years have young people from Nayland, Waimea, Nelson Girls College and Garin in their midst. On Friday 13th February they headed to the Nelson Ark Compassion in Action Open day to find out what this programme is all about.

Nelson Ark

As you can tell the dogs made a huge hit! Sadly most of these dogs had been mistreated. The Nelson Ark rescues these dogs and entrusts them to the care of young people who have experienced difficulties to form a winning combination. The youth followed up the visit with a dinner of fish and chips and hot dogs (no pun intended). They got to see just what the Vinnies groups throughout the area had been up to over the past year in the latest Vinnies movie - coming to a Vinnies theatre near you; fill out their application packs and get their wits together to untangle themselves in a game of Knots. As for the Nelson Ark Compassion in Action programme, this Vinnies group will definitely be back to help the programme in anyway they can!

Weetbix Tryathlon

These girls may not be racing but as Vinnies they are certainly doing their bit for the Weetbix Tryathlon! Lily and Karen assisted the Cancer Society at this big event by distributing sunscreen to everyone through using a backpack with a pump attached. Although the weather was touch and go, the sun finally broke out causing sunscreen to be in demand. They may not have got a gold medal like all the competitors but they definitely got a pat on the back for their awesome efforts!

Elections

The Young Adult College Vinnies got together to do some serious voting for Office Bearers on Sunday 15 March. Despite bribery, corruption and even a few placards bantered around, we have results...the President of this college aged Vinnies group is Helena Ruffell with Lily Warner as Vice-President, Karen Drysdale as Treasurer and Alice Glover (who was the President of the St. Paul's Vinnies last year and this year is being home-schooled) as Secretary. All this team has to do now is to come up with a name to call their conference

At Play?

Of course it wasn't all serious business at the meeting either, the Vinnies had a great time playing "I'm going to the Moon..." and Knots and getting down to creating some amazing placemats for camp. One thing this group certainly has got is style

Movie night

On the 21 April, the College Vinnies celebrated a successful term and their recent nomination for the Youth Volunteer Awards of 2009 by having a Pizza and Movie night. As you can see on the Youtube clip, Bonnie Macgregor demonstrates the fun the Vinnies had in creating their own pizzas! These great-tasting pizzas were enjoyed while the group watched Madagascar 2 and Mama Mia.

SVdP Regional Meeting

This wonderful bunch of Vinnies were also involved (along with a couple of Vinnies from Garin College) in serving lunch at the SVdP regional meeting on the 19 April as well as cleaning up afterwards and setting up for afternoon tea. Well done team!

Food

was definitely on the mind of these Vinnies on Sunday the 3 May as the girls assisted the Nelson Asthma Society and Breath Better with a sausage sizzle outside of Countdown Supermarket in Nelson to kick off Asthma Awareness week from the 3 - 10 May. The Nelson Asthma Society is a non-profit organisation that provides Nurse Educators who offer information, education and assistance to families in the region with Asthma and other respiratory conditions. These Vinnies did a fantastic job in helping NAS out - well done!

Hug rugs for the Refugees

A few of the College Vinnies combined talent with the St. Paul's Vinnies to create a bundle of hug rugs after receiving a request from the Nelson Refugee Services that they would like more. A baby blanket was made by College Vinnie Bonnie Macgregor and couldn't have come at a more opportune time. From what we understand the refugee family that the St. Paul's Vinnies visited last year have just had a new baby!

Fundraising for the Garin College Community Garden

The College Vinnies this term have assisted at sausage sizzles held at Bunnings Warehouse and Raeward Fresh to raise money for the Garin College Community Garden Project that will grow produce to be given away to people in need in the community. These sausage sizzles were very successful and $300 was raised from them to go towards the garden.

Daffodil Day Collecting

A few of the College Vinnies also got on board with Daffodil day collecting on the 28 and 29 August to help raise funds for the Cancer Society

Concerts

Talented College Vinnie dancers Lily Warner and Karen Drysdale have danced their way through a number of events this year. From joining forces with the Garin College Vinnies to take part in the Stillwater Gardens, Wensley House and Stoke Senior Citizens Concerts to performing in the Garin Vinnies Annual Resthome Concert, at the Faith and Light luncheon and more recently at the Vinnies Mass - I completely take my hat off to the amount of energy and action these young ladies display with such talent.

Vinnies Mass

The College Vinnies played an important role in the recent Vinnies Mass at St. Francis of Assisi in Stoke on 20 September. From performing a liturgical dance as offertry was brought up to doing one of the readings - it was great to see representatives of the College Vinnies living out their faith in such an active way.

Congratulations

Congratulations must go to Lily Warner, the first of our College girl Vinnies group to meet the requirements needed to gain her bronze accreditation in the Vinnies programme.

Thank you to all those who gave up their time during the year to serve other people..

Latest Project - The "In-Vince-ables" kicked things off in September of last year by getting together and recording their memories on to CD about an awesome friend who passed away. Since then they have helped a local parishioner move house before embarking on their latest project - the infamous "Holy-Rollers" entry. So what does a go-kart, a bunch of young males and St. Vincent de Paul all have in common? You guessed it.. The Collingwood Derby Challenge coming up on the 28 February.

The "In-Vince-ables" male Vinnies group have been busy on their entry since the end of last year. Having put the design together themselves, they scavenged through the local Refuse Stations to find parts. Turning trash into treasure was the next big step with dismantling bikes, windsurfer frames, the works to come up with just what they want. They have now begun constructing what they hope to be a winning entry. They have less than 2 weeks to have it ready! Will they beat the clock and have their entry finished in time??? With the help of Vince Fox, Garin's own Techno-whizz, they might just stand a chance! Watch this space!!!.

The Derby Challenge - The day of the Collingwood Derby Challenge is here and the In-Vince-able Young Men's Conference is definitely ready to speed down Collingwood St in their finished contraption. Take a look at these clips to watch them go!!! A big thank you goes to Richmond St. Vincent de Paul for lending us their brand new distribution van to transport the go-kart in - Good on you team!

The "In-Vince-ables" also made there debut in the latest Garin College newsletter... and were spotted in the Nelson Mail!

The In-Vince-ables are not attached to a particular school but is a conference open to guys from all colleges who are prepared to participate in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul.

Elections- With the excitement of the Collingwood Derby Challenge now behind them, the In-Vince-ables settled down for some serious business at the last In-Vince-ables get together. Shevy Oakly has taken on the role of President this year. Shevy is a Garin College Year 11 student. He is off to Turkey as an AFS student for a year at the beginning of August. A great opportunity for the guys to remain in contact and learn about life in a different culture!

Chris Day was voted in as Vice-President, Jono Clayton as Secretary with Matthew Ruffell as Treasurer.

The 11 April was a very special night for one of our In-Vince-able leaders, George Watterson as he made his initiation into the Catholic Church. For George, this was indeed a dream come true. We wish him all the best as he carries on his journey of faith as a Catholic.

The night was a mixture of happiness and sadness for the In-Vince-ables as they also farewelled George. George has taken up a position working for the Lower Hutt Disability Trust and officially moved to Wellington on Easter Sunday. He is seen here with Liam Gill, James Hume and Mattew Ruffell at the Farewell party that the In-Vince-ables put on for him. George is still keen to continue in his role as an In-Vince-able through long-distance relationship. We are blessed to have Mark Christensen who was a Vinnie a few years ago and Andy Benton, one of the leaders at our Vinnies camp at the beginning of April replace George as new leaders of the In-Vince-ables.

Food was definitely on the mind of these Vinnies on Saturday the 2 May as the In-Vince-ables assisted the Nelson Asthma Society and Breathe Better with a Sausage Sizzle outside of Countdown Supermarket in Nelson to kick off Asthma Awareness week from the 3 - 10 May. Taking into consideration that Asthma is the leading reason that 1 in 4 children are hospitalized in New Zealand, the guys were more than happy to offer their services to the Society for the day. From what I hear they did a great job - well done guys!!!

On Thursday the 7 May the In-Vince-ables along with other Garin College friends and teachers remembered Asher Clayton. A special mass was said in memory of him followed by the planting of a Golden Ash tree. The In-Vince-ables presented the family with a bunch of flowers and card and one of the In-Vince-ables is also organising a memorial stone to be laid by the tree. In this photo In-Vince-able Jono Clayton (Asher's younger brother) finishes planting the tree as Gill and Shane Clayton stand close by.

The In-Vince-ables have joined forces with the Garin College Environment Group to create a multi-functional community garden. On Monday the 18 May they began work on the garden. From here Chris Day hopes to form a 3D plan on his computer as to how the garden will look when finished while Shevy Oakly maps it out as part of the measuring progress programme that will encompass this project. The Measuring progress project is a new environment initiative and Garin College will be one of the first schools in New Zealand to try this idea out, leading the way for others.

Community Garden Project

Plans for the Garin College Community Garden continued to move ahead throughout the term. The In-Vince-ables got together for a shared lunch and to discuss plans further on the 7 June. This was followed by a visit to the Victory and Waimarama Community Gardens to gather ideas of things that work well.

Collingwood Derby Challenge 2010

The In-Vince-ables also got together to have a meeting with Garin College's technology teacher - Vince Fox - to discuss how they can up-grade their go-kart for the 2010 Collingwood Derby Challenge. Definitely watch this space.

Beach BBQ

The In-Vince-ables headed to the beach on Saturday the 8 August to have a BBQ lunch and collect firewood. The firewood will be chopped up and distributed to people who have fires and are finding it difficult to meet their power bills. Once the firewood was unloaded the In-Vince-ables then made their way to the Richmond Refuse Station to hunt around for items needed for their go-kart. They are presently on the look-out for wheels, bolts, wheelbarrow trays, plastic pools to be used for mudguards, old broken wheelchairs and golf cart wheels. If you are able to help in anyway please let Philippa, the Vinnies Youth Co-ordinator know.

Community Garden Project

The In-Vince-ables have continued to assist with the Garin College Community Garden during Term 3, from helping with the layout of the garden to planting seeds and assisting with raising funds for the garden at the sausage sizzles held throughout the term.

Farewell Shevy

Sadly we farewelled Shevy Oakly during Term 3 as he set out on his year-long adventure as an AFS student in Turkey. We wish him all the best.

Other activities

The In-Vince-ables throughout the term have also assisted with Daffodil Day collecting and the Vinnies Mass held at St. Francis of Assisi on the 20 September.

Donation to Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Organisation

The In-Vince-ables finished the year by donating to the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Organisation the go-kart they had made out of recycled parts. No doubt some lucky grandchildren will find this amongst their Christmas surprises this year.