The St Vincent de Paul Boksburg group of the local Catholic Church is headed up by Kathy Pretorius and they work within Boksburg, Reiger Park, Vosloorus, Spruitview and Dawn Park parishes.
With a large number of initiatives currently operating in Boksburg, St Vincent de Paul aims to fight poverty.
Pretorius pointed out however, the majority of people being helped are non-Catholics.
Part of their many outreaches include running a soup kitchen at the church premises every Monday. The soup includes a lot vegetables and meat.
“Food parcels are handed out every month to about 60 families, whose needs have been assessed by St Vincent de Paul,” said Pretorius.
“We enlist the help of Spar to pack the food parcels which St,Vincent de Paul pays for; that funding depends on how many families and how often we can assist.”
“Green Valleys Market also provides vegetables hampers at a very reasonable price.”
Pretorius added appeals are sometimes made to the Catholic congregations for food donations, which are added to the food parcels.
“In addition, old clothes that are collected from the congregations are given to people who live on the streets, or to needy families.
“If there are extra old clothes, the church then donates them to other St Vincent de Paul groups in the various areas.”
During Christmas time, St.Vincent de Paul hands out buckets or bags to the congregation at all masses for two weeks.
These buckets or bags are filled with non-perishable foodstuffs to add some Christmas cheer to the families they supply parcels to.
“On Christmas day a great cooked meal is supplied to the people who live on the streets, just to give them a reason to smile,” Pretorius said.
Pretorius said St Vincent de Paul also helps deserving families by paying for their rent and electricity.
“The church doesn’t hand out cash however, but personally pays the accounts.
“We also financially help a Catholic woman who lives at Cosmos Old Age Home.
“Appeals are also made to the congregations in winter for blankets, which are then given to needy families.”
Apart from these initiatives, the group also supports an orphanage home in Vosloorus which looks after mentally and physically disabled adults and children.
They provide the home with groceries and also Christmas gifts for the children.
According to Pretorius, St Vincent de Paul attempts yearly to visit House of Mercy, a rehabilitation center for drugs and alcohol abuse.
“We normally visit the centre in the evening and in the course of the visitation, we supply cake and cold drinks and have a good chat with those attempting to overcome the challenges of life.
“We also support Mercy Haven, which is a centre for abused women which is run by Child Welfare. We then supply groceries and clothing when we can,” Pretorius concluded.
Anyone who would like to donate food, clothes or blankets to this worthy cause, may contact Pretorius on 083 242 7045 or on 011 917 5160.
St Vincent de Paul bank details are as follows: Standard Bank, K90 Boksburg, account number 20665148, branch 001842, Boksburg Catholic Parish.
