Vincent de Paul opens Vinnies Supermarket in Melbourne

I dips me lid today to a superb Christian charity, Vinnies (as St Vincent de Paul is known here). As Sandy McCutcheon said today on Life Matters (ABC Radio National), anyone will know if they have ever stood in a supermarket queue with a charity food voucher and had the checkout operator say over the public address system "I've got a customer with a Vinnie's voucher, what do I do?", you feel like the ground will open and swallow you up. (As one such person who has been helped by Vinnies and the Salvos numerous times, I concur.)

This new initiative from Vinnies is a groundbreaker and I hope will be emulated worldwide by charity organisations (atheists, leftists and neo-pagans, don't be embarrassed!):

"The St Vincent de Paul Society started its operation of Vinnies Budget Groceries in suburban Heidelberg West ... on 10th August. There are 10,000 grocery lines selling for up to 25% cheaper than regular supermarket prices.

"The store at the Heidelberg West Mall opens Wednesday to Friday, 9am-3pm every week. 'In order to keep the price as low as possible, the store does not take profits and all staffs are volunteers,' project officer Max Fletcher said. The store aims to open to pensioners, health card holders and people on government benefits ...

"According to the plan, five more stores will open in Victoria, including Moe, Ballarat and Wangaratta."
Christian Today Australia

Tagged: charity, poverty, saint, vincent, australia, supermarket, poor, social, issues