The St Vincent De Paul Society’s St Joseph’s workshop has received a $2,000 grant from the SUEZ Community Grants Program, which will enable the purchase of urgently needed equipment and tools.
The St Joseph’s workshop provides over 100 volunteers a space to create and repair furniture and toys, which are then donated to local families and indigenous groups or sold through Vinnies shops to raise funds for charity programs run by the organisation.
Central Coast collections manager, Mr Wade Hammond presented the cheque at the workshop’s Aboriginal Cultural Information Day in West Gosford. He said SUEZ was thrilled to support a local organisation that both encourages community involvement and inspires participation in sustainable activities.
“The St Vincent De Paul Society are an iconic organisation that works hard to assist people in need, especially here on the Central Coast,” Mr Hammond said.
The Workshop’s local president, Mr Bob McGrath said that without the support of SUEZ, they wouldn’t be able to continue to offer the program to over 100 local volunteers.
“Our workshop volunteers were really excited to hear about the SUEZ grant. “They work on a variety of furniture and toys such as children’s tables and chairs, bookcases, bedside tables and educational blocks,” Mr McGrath said.
“The new equipment will greatly improve the professional finish of all our recycled items, giving our volunteers a real sense of satisfaction,” he said.
Amongst other equipment, the grant will help purchase a specialist spray booth which will give a professional finish to the many high quality designs produced in the local workshop.
Media release,
Sep 15, 2015
Bob McGrath, St Vincent
De Paul Society