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| Our family group's hampers |
Advent is here, gentle reader. It marks a space on the Christian calendar which involves preparation for Christmas, and is a season of hope and anticipation.
Given the current international outlook, hope is important right now.
In our local parish, in recognition of the families doing it tough leading up to Christmas, we get involved in the Saint Vincent De Paul advent activity.
This means identifying needy families, donating money to buy mostly non-perishable foods and small goods, and donating them, as a parish to the charity.
SVDP* have the task of identifying the families, and collecting and distributing the hampers.
Each family group in the parish has the responsibility of buying goods with money donated, putting the hampers together, and getting the hampers to SVDP.
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| Just a few of the local collection. |
Our family group raised a four figure sum, and with that we were able to shop for goods and vouchers until all the funds were used up. The shopping process is interesting, involving couples, the wives doing the selection of goodies based on the description provided of the family, and husbands following around like bookies' clerks tallying up the expenditure.
Fellow shoppers must have wondered what was going on.
Yesterday we delivered the carefully decorated hampers, and they will be distributed tomorrow.
Whilst this level of generosity in our community is positive, the dimensions of the need it seeks to meet is not.
A combination of factors including housing and energy costs, declining wages and corporate greed is responsible. At least this activity provides an opportunity for ordinary people to do something about it.
Our political leaders don't appear to have any answers.
*St Vincent De Paul
