A night on a hard floor in a cold church hall will help the St Vincent de Paul Society in Dubbo support another 3000 men, women and children in dire straits.
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The 2016 and first Dubbo Winter Sleepout in St Brigid’s Church Hall on Thursday night coincides with the high-profile Vinnies CEO Sleepout in Sydney.
Andrew McKay has launched the sleepout to raise awareness of the plight of less-fortunate members of the community and money for the society’s (Vinnies) winter appeal launched at St Brigid’s Church in late May.
Vinnies volunteer in Dubbo Dan Sullivan reports that it has already collected $7500 towards a target of $10,000.
He is confident that the target will be reached given the city’s enduring support.
The $10,000 will supplement a huge financial outlay by Vinnies annually on people in need.
In the past year an estimated 3000 adults and children have received a total of 1308 food parcels.
“The value of food, emergency accommodation and other assistance is $71,300,” Mr Sullivan said.
“The average cost of assistance per month is $5900.”
Most of the money comes from the sale of donated goods from Vinnies’ Brisbane Street store.
“The people of the Dubbo community have been generous for many years and continue to donate good quality clothing and other items,” Mr Sullivan said.
NSW government energy vouchers worth $85,650 have also been distributed in the past year.
Mr Sullivan said the winter appeal would allow for the recouping of about $2000 spent in autumn on blankets.
“In this cold weather we’ve had a big run on blankets,” he said.
Mr Sullivan and Mr McKay have checked out the church hall where a small group of people will gather on Thursday night.
“The majority of people in Dubbo will be fortunate enough to be sleeping in a warm bed on Thursday but there are those who won’t,” Mr McKay said.
The community can support the Dubbo Winter Sleepout by sending cheques to PO Box 1001 Dubbo or visiting http://www.womdomnom.com/dubbo-winter-sleepout.html.
Envelopes for making credit card donations can be obtained by calling Mr Sullivan on 0417 215 898.