CHRISTMAS was filled with a spirit of giving for students from St James College, Brisbane, through their support of the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Christmas Appeal.
In only three weeks, St James’ students filled more than 20 food and gift hampers which were taken to the St Vincent de Paul Welfare Centre at Inala to be handed out to needy families.
After hearing of the big effort the college was making, staff at the Christian Brothers’ Xavier Province Centre at Indooroopilly joined in the giving mood and collected money for additional hampers and vouchers for those in need.
Canossian Sister Melissa Dwyer, a teacher at St James College, said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of the students.
“It’s amazing to be constantly surprised by the other-centredness of our students,” she said.
“They had such a short amount of time to bring in suitable items for the appeal, yet they all put in such an effort. “It just goes to show that when you let your heart be touched by the plight of others then you can discover so much within yourself.”
Sr Dwyer said, in delivering the hampers to the Inala centre, all of the students were touched to hear what a difference their contribution would make to people in need.
She said the success of the Christmas appeal ended a fantastic year of heightened social awareness for the college.
During 2006 the “Jimmies” van began serving breakfast every Friday morning to a large group of needy people in the West End area.
