The St Vincent de Paul Society was pleased to recently award Life Membership to some of their long standing and dedicated Forbes members including Helen Smith, Anne Miller, Vince Toohey and Bev Parsons.
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Helen Smith has been an active member of the Society for 28 years. She is currently the Forbes Conference President and Youth Representative on the Wilcannia Forbes (WCF) Central Council.
In this youth role, Helen supports the Vinnies primary school programs (Mini Vinnies) in an area spanning over half of NSW, as well as the Red Bend Catholic College, High School Conference.
Helen has also been very involved in flood assistance since the Forbes floods in November 2022 and she has also been very active in drought relief work over the years.
Anne Miller has been a conference member and Vinnies shop volunteer for 20 years. During this time she has been very active in providing assistance to those in need and working in the Vinnies shop. She has held various leadership roles including shop Vice President and Central West Regional President and Social Justice Representative.
Vince Toohey first joined the Society as a junior member in primary school at Marist Brothers College Forbes. He was then a Conference member in Eugowra in the early 60's. Vince then returned to the Society in 2004 in Forbes as both a conference member and shop volunteer.
Since then Vince has been an extremely active member and held many leadership positions including, 2007-2020 NSW Rural Assistance Advisory Committee (RAAC) Representative; 2007-2010 WCF Central Council Vice President; 2011-2014 WCF Central Council President; 2014-2017 Central West Regional President; 2017-2020 Conference President.
Vince has been involved in advocacy work, had active involvement in the development of accurate data collection and was instrumental in encouraging youth programs, in particular Mini Vinnies in WCF.
Vince was extremely active within the Rural Assistance Advisory Committee, providing much assistance to those in need in the rural sector over many years.
He was vocal in ensuring funds were made available to allow us to support farmers during particularly tough times and spent endless hours speaking to farmers to provide not just financial support, but also pastoral care.
Bev Parsons has been a conference member and shop volunteer for 24 years. During these years, Bev has held the roles of Conference President, Shop President and Shop Vice President. This demonstrates how active Bev has been within the Society over these years and has always been quietly supportive of all she works with.
The Society is extremely pleased to acknowledge the amazing contributions of Helen, Anne, Vince and Bev. Such dedication from our wonderful members allows Vinnies to continue to support those in need within the community.
In the last 18 months, Forbes members have provided assistance on approximately 1200 occasions to the value of almost $400,000.
To keep this great work going, Vinnies is always in need of more volunteers. Volunteering is one of the best ways to make new friends, build relationships and learn new skills.
If you are interested in volunteering and being able to give back to your community, call 6862 5758 or email wcfsvdp@vinnies.org.au or call into the Vinnies Shop to enquire.
