Please donate to the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW to help meet increased need this Christmas

The St Vincent de Paul Society NSW is still short of its fundraising goal for the annual Christmas Appeal to meet growing need as the cost of living crisis bites.

“Thank you to all of the generous people who have donated to the Christmas Appeal so far this year but just a day out from Christmas we are just over halfway to our target,” St Vincent de Paul Society NSW Acting CEO, Yolanda Saiz, said.

“We are seeing significant increased demand, so we are asking people to continue donating to help us meet that need.

“In the first quarter of this financial year, there was a 20% increase in the number of people coming to our members for assistance compared with the previous year.

“Donations mean we can assist people with food, bills, rent, and other everyday necessities as well as provide emergency housing and fund our homelessness and domestic and family violence services.

“The increases to the cost of living coming from both rising interest rates and inflation are putting pressure on everyone.

“But they have the most acute effects on people who were already doing it tough and those same increases push people who were on the edge into disadvantage.

“This also adds pressure to the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW as we face twin spikes in both demand for our services and increased difficulty raising funds to meet that need,” Ms Saiz said.

“St Vincent de Paul Society NSW members provide assistance to people who cannot afford the basics the rest of us take for granted,” St Vincent de Paul Society State Council President, Paul Burton, said.

“When we speak of disadvantage we mean when food, clothing, and shelter are beyond your reach.

“Our members visit people in their homes – sometimes that’s a house, sometimes it’s a tent, sometimes it’s a sleeping bag under a bridge.

“We know the number of people experiencing disadvantage is growing because one in four people who come to us for assistance in NSW come to us for the first time.

“The cost of living crisis is having a profound effect on people we see every day.

“Please give generously so we can keep providing assistance to people who most need it,” Mr Burton said.

Media contact: Lachlan Jones | 0417 446 430