WITH just days to Christmas, volunteers at St Vincent de Paul depot in Monavalley have been working diligently to get food packages made up for needy families in the Tralee area.

By Friday they had over 800 families on their list to receive  hampers, but that number was likely to rise. This was already 200 more than last year and 400 more than were distributed in 2017.

Foodshare puts in food from FEAD, which is the European Union’s fund for the most deprived and then St Vincent de Paul, from funds they have raised, buy extra food like soft drinks, tea, coffee, meat, etc.

Continued below…

They plan on distributing all the hampers by Monday evening. Foodshare works with other organisations in the area and they also distribute food packages to needy people, so it’s likely the number of families and individuals who need help is even greater than 800.

While there is much talk about an economic revival, it’s clear from these figures that there is an increasing number of people in need of help around Christmas. Thanks to the public’s generosity, St Vincent de Paul and Foodshare can continue to help them.

St Vincent de Paul are hosting a three-course Christmas Day Dinner at St John’s Parish Centre from 2pm to 4pm. It’s free of charge and all are welcome.

ST Vincent de Paul will be hosting a special Christmas Day Dinner from 2pm to 4pm in St. John’s Parish Centre, Castle Street.

This is a free event, open to everyone and wouldn’t be possible without much needed and generous donations from both the public and the local business community of Kerry.

“It would be much appreciated if any business could be in the position to make a donation for the event,” said SVP Tralee Area President, Paddy Kevane.

Continued below…

“We particularly need donations of non-perishable foods, disposable utensils and crockery for the event.  Volunteers are still welcome. Particularly to help out with distribution of the dinners,” he added.

St Vincent de Paul will also be continuing with their Christmas Day Meals on Wheels from 9am to 12pm in Ozanam House, Day Place Tralee. Those who would require meals on wheels or who wish to volunteer can request by emailing svp.tralee@svp.ie or calling phone (066) 712 8021  or texting (086) 023 4706.

St Vincent de Paul is experiencing a high volume of requests for help and expect to distribute just over 700 hampers to households again this year around the Tralee, West Kerry, Ballyduff, Ballyheigue, Ardfert, Causeway and other rural areas.

“The biggest issues we’ve seen challenging people this year is rental costs and education expenses. We are meeting more people who are struggling while working. Legal and illegal money lenders are also a significant issue,” said Mr Kevane.

ST Vincent de Paul is incredibly busy this time of the trying to help out families in need and they received a little help from a childcare centre on Friday.

The staff and children from Sunflowers Childcare at Balloonagh have been helping SVP every Christmas for the past 11 years.

“We take part in the food and toy appeal every year where we ask our children to bring in a toy or non-perishable goods and then Davena O’Neill of Sunflowers.

Continued below…

Sunflowers have both pre-school age children and an after school club and it’s the older kids who wheel the trolley-full of toys and food all the way from Balloonagh to the SVP shop at Friary Lane.

Paddy Kevane, President of SVP Tralee, expressed his gratitude to Sunflowers for their efforts. “It’s great to see young people getting involved at this time of the years and Sunflowers have been doing this for many years now so we’re very grateful for their generosity.”

ST Vincent de Paul in Tralee is advising people to be wary of a youth who is claiming to be collecting for the charity.

There are reports that a teenage boy was going door to door selling lines for SVP in the Kevin Barrys Villas and general Mitchels area. When challenged by some householders for identification, he claimed he left it in Dublin.

St Vincent de Paul Tralee said nobody has been authorised to sell lines door to door in the town. It’s understood he collected a sizeable sum of money.

Gardai always advise people to ask for identification for anyone who calls to a house either selling items or offering services.

THERE was good news for St Vincent de Paul shops in Tralee last week when they picked up two awards at the Vincent’s Retail Awards in Croke Park.

The Vincent’s Castle Street, Tralee picked up the Window Dressing award and Vincent’s Friary Lane  was awarded the ‘Team of the Year’ award in the South West Region categories on Thursday last.

Continued below…

The awards night celebrates the dedication and creativity of SVP – Society of St. Vincent de Paul Irelandshop managers, volunteers and members of the Vincent’s Retail Team.

The Vincent’s charity shops are managed by a small number of professionals, assisted by a large number of volunteers and by community employment trainees. Well done to both Tralee shops on winning the awards!

ST Vincent de Paul are appealing to the public to drop in any clothes they can spare to their shops in Castles Street and Friary Lane.

The appeal comes as they revealed there is still a big demand for their services and this is likely to increase as Christmas approaches.

“The seasons have changed and if people are putting away their summer clothes, they might think instead of putting them into a bag and giving them to us,” said Junior Locke of St Vincent de Paul in Tralee, who also appealed for any winter clothes people have to spare.

Continued below…

“There is a massive demand on the services. Our shops are extremely busy which is down also to the quality of stuff we are receiving. Without the support of the public, we would not be able to deliver the vital services to the people who need it,” said Junior.

“Our main work is visitation to people’s homes to see what they need. Food and fuel are our priorities for them. We see in the past few weeks people are starting to struggle with paying for fuel,” he said.

They are also appealing for volunteers in the shops and training is provided by SVP. The society will also hold a fundraising fashion show on November 17 in the Ballyroe Heights Hotel at 7.30pm.

NEW St Vincent de Paul Store store on Castle Street is aiming to be more visible to the public.

The new store on Upper Castle Street (located opposite the entrance to Presentation Primary School) has been open for two weeks, but on Monday night was launched in earnest with an in-store fashion event and customer appreciation night that showcased the items on sale.

After spending over €470,000 last year, St Vincent de Paul needed to generate more income to keep the services going to their high standards.

It is hoped that this store will be more visible to the public than the one in Friary Lane which is a bit off the beaten path in the Strand Street area.

“We need something on the main street so people will know where we are,” said Junior Locke of St Vincent de Paul Tralee Area President. “Since we’ve opened we had a lot of people come in donating and others seeking help, so it opens up that avenue of where to go,” he added.

Maeve Leahy is the manager of the new store, which all St Vincent de Paul shops in the country will now be modelled on. She has 12 years of experience in fashion retail.

“We’re still finding our feet, but we’re getting there” said Maeve Leahy. “There is nothing covering charity shops this side of town and it has a good catchment area,” she added.

The store on Castle Street is open 8:45am to 5:30pm, Monday to Saturday. Scroll down of photos…

AT the moment, St Vincent de Paul are busy delivering Christmas hampers for families who need them in the Tralee area.

“We are seeing a big increase on last year, we’re definitely up 10% on last year,” said Junior Locke of St Vincent de Paul. “At present we have in the region of 600 hampers ready to go. We are very fortunate that we have the people of Tralee donating stuff to us.”

Despite unemployment numbers dropping and economic growth rising – according to national figures – St Vincent de Paul Tralee has still not seen this trickle down.

Continued below…

Junior Locke is urging families who are feeling the pressure to stay away from money lenders.

“The families we see coming into us now are the ones who would have been supporting us before, but have now found themselves so stretched because of mortgage repayments or interest rates, they now need our help.”

“It’s fine until something happens – the car breaks down or a child gets sick. From there on they’re just borrowing money. So our big problem is money lenders,” he continued.

“So there are ways to get out of that through schemes we have with the Credit Union and MABS. With the help of both of them we can help facilitate small loans, to keep the money lenders away from the door.”

“We understand people are under pressure this time year, but it’s about being realistic. We understand the children want the best of everything, but not at the cost of going without food or heating. So we’re urging people not to go to the money lenders and come talk to us, the Credit Union or MABS. The last resort is never money lenders,” he said.

If you want to donate to help families less fortunate this Christmas, there is still time to give a helping hand. Garveys, Aldi and Tesco in Manor West have St Vincent de Paul drop off facilities.  Donations can also be given to the St Vincent de Paul Shop on Friary Lane.

“We’d just like to thank people for giving this Christmas, without their help we wouldn’t be able to support families that need it most,” said Junior.