The St Vincent de Paul Society – commonly referred to as Vinnies – is particularly well known to me for its annual CEO Sleepout event each June, involving business and community leaders experiencing for themselves a night under the stars. This year over $1.3M was raised in Victoria alone. Nationally the total was over $8M.

In Melbourne, we still see too many people going hungry, sleeping rough or living on the edge. The Vinnies CEO Sleepout supports those facing homelessness and food insecurity. The Vinnies Soup Vans program delivers over 800,000 meals every year to people in need.

But Vinnies do much more, and shortly we will hear from CEO Dr Jenny Fitzgerald about the wonderful work they do.

As Rotarians, our ‘service above self’ approach should certainly extend to those who don’t have a roof over their heads – for whatever reason.

For good food, friendships through Rotary and the opportunity to serve, we give thanks.  

Thank you Robert Fisher.

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