The St Vincent de Paul Society has been helping Queenslanders in need since 1894 and in Bundaberg since 1934. The St Vincent de Paul Society provides essential relief to people facing difficulties in their lives. Whether it’s financial pressure, social disadvantage, personal crisis or dealing with natural disasters, the Society provides practical assistance and support services to people in need. Much of the Society’s support services provide immediate relief as well as ongoing assistance and opportunities to enable people to achieve better outcomes for themselves and their families in the long term. More than 8000 members, volunteers and staff across Queensland work to realise the vision of the Society to offer a ‘hand up’ to people in need and to achieve the mission of the Society to serve the poor and the marginalised and to assist people in times of crisis. This is achieved by operating Vinnies Shops, with two in Bundaberg and one in Bargara, which provide value shopping by recycling a wide range of used goods, offering a range of quality used items including clothing, household items and furniture at affordable prices, with the proceeds of the sale of donated goods being used to fund a range of support services the Society provides in the community. In Bundaberg this includes a Support Centre which provides emergency relief and essential assistance to people in need as well as other services including NILS (No Interest Loan Scheme), Step Up Loans, education assistance when available, and disaster relief. It varies by region, with some services offered relative to regional needs and availability of funds and personnel to operate services, and in Bundaberg other services available include Child & Family Services, Buddies Days provided by Vinnies Youth, and crisis accommodation for men at the SVDP Homeless Men's Hostel. This range of support services is only possible because of donations (material and monetary), including people who donate their time to work as volunteers in Vinnies retail centres and Society programs. Many opportunities exist in Vinnies to volunteer in a variety of roles which offers people an opportunity to use their skills and learn new skills, meet people, socialise, stay active, be motivated and to inspire and positively impact the lives of others and contribute and benefit the community.
