Representatives from the local St Vincent’s De Paul Society NSW and kids from their partner club, Cardiff junior rugby league, got to spend some time with nib Newcastle Knights players after training on Thursday.
Vinnies have been named as the match day partner for the Knights Indigenous Round 10 clash against the Canberra Raiders this Sunday.
“I saw an opportunity for us at St Vincent’s De Paul to form a partnership with the Knights,” said proud Vinnies representative and Old Boy Owen Craigie.
“It has happened now and some of the things that we’re trying to achieve for Indigenous Round is educating some of the younger kids the importance of health and education and staying healthy and living a good lifestyle.”
Vinnies has more than 40,000 members and volunteers nationwide and works hard to assist people in need and combat social injustice.
“At Vinnies, we deliver so many different programs and the one I’m involved in is disabilities in Aboriginal communities,” explained Craigie.
“We are all about giving a hand up instead of a hand out and educating the community on what’s best for Aboriginal people.
“We have our second-hand shops, we’ve got health, we’ve got disability, we’ve got Matthew Talbot house in Sydney which is for people recovering from addictions.
“Vinnies has been around for 146 years now in Australia and is a very good organisation and very proactive in the community to help everyone.”
Game day this Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium will see an exciting partnership with the Knights which will include a Vinnies marquee with volunteers on hand from the local organisation and bucket collections across the stadium, plus on field activities at half-time.
“It is all about building the profile, the Knights are pulling good crowds and covering such a big area,” added Craigie.
“The only way for the Knights is up and we’re really lucky and fortunate to build a partnership with them to help build our profile at Vinnies.”
The Knights is urging all supporters to dig deep and donate on game day. You can also donate to the Vinnies winter appeal here.
