The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
12 October 2003
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Vatican:
‘Pray for Pope’ call not meant to alarm
Honour
shared by all
Como
jubilee
Church
offers $2.1m
Mercy
day
Compeer
reaches farther out
‘Urgent’
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Faith
‘keeps you going’
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Editorial:
A jubilee prayer
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Man of stature
Conversation:
Fr John Andersen, parish priest on the banks of the Amazon - Baptism query, then
it was the barrel of a gun
Pluralism,
truth, conscience
Spiritan
leader wants recruits
50
years of service to children in Vic
Day
of the Emperors
Achieving
pregnancy
Sports
stars, ‘Mentals’ back Vinnies Fun Fest
Role
for the didjeridoo
It’s
‘mission accomplished’ for parish evangelisation experiment
Holiday
with a mission
Sports stars, ‘Mentals’ back Vinnies Fun Fest
Children’s dance groups were a hit with the crowd at the Fun Fest, climax of Vinnies Week in western Sydney
By Damir Govorcin
Mark
Philippoussis, Harry Kewell, Kostya Tszyu, John Eales, Mark Taylor, the Sydney
Swans, the rock band Mental As Anything and the 2003 Wallabies are among celebrities
who gave autographed items for an auction which raised more than $5000 at the
St Vincent de Paul Society’s Fun Fest.
More than 3000 people turned up at Merrylands Oval to take part in the annual charity day, an initiative aimed at raising funds to support the disadvantaged in western Sydney.
The Fun Fest began with more than 80 keen runners and walkers competing in a five-kilometre charity run.
Kids enjoyed the carnival atmosphere which included rides, games, international food stalls and farm animal displays.
Their parents and older participants were also entertained with a fashion parade, stalls, the auction, giveaways and performances from local bands, dance groups, school bands, Greek dancing, karate groups, musical comedy duo Big Brother, Little Brother, cabaret star Lucy Durack, Taneel Van Zyl and Sun Park (from Mamma Mia!), Frank Hansen, David Somerville and Peter Rutherford.
The Fun Fest is the climax of Vinnies Week, which was supported this year by more than 50 local businesses.
The corporate contribution and the great turn out was evidence of the strong community support for and the growing awareness of the Society’s work, which was the aim of the day.
Actors, authors, politicians, musicians and sports people threw their support behind the fundraising campaign which was launched at the St Mary’s Band Club.
There were featured performances from singer Sara Storer, and comic verse writer Tug Dumbly from Triple J and 702 ABC.
Prof John Overton, former deputy director of Westmead Children’s Hospital, spoke on issues relating to the work of the Society and the increasing demand for assistance.
The St Vincent de Paul Society offers more than $1 million worth of assistance each year to those in need in the Greater West of Sydney.
This includes visiting people in their homes to give assistance, referral and support, budget counselling, pregnancy counselling, emergency accommodation, night patrol, day care, youth activities, shops and self-care aged accommodation.
The demand for the assistance of the St Vincent de Paul Society in the west is dramatically increasing.