Students step up to understand plight of homeless

Year 11 students at Bunbury Catholic College braved the elements last week and participated in the St Vincent de Paul Community Sleepout alongside the school’s executive team. The community program encourages people to take a night to experience the realities of homelessness and what a night on the street is like. The program also involves raising money and donating handy goods for people living on the streets. Principal Michael Pepper, deputy principal Deborah Garbutt and head of Year 11 Sharon Doyle joined the students on Friday, with the principal’s dog even making an appearance. “We would like to thank the Bunbury Catholic College community for their generous contributions,” Mr Pepper said. “We were absolutely overwhelmed by the abundance of products that were donated by the students and their families, their generosity and thoughtfulness will most certainly be appreciated by those less privileged than ourselves.” Michael Dixon from St Vincent de Paul opened the night with a prayer and spoke of the difficulties homeless people faced. The students were involved in sorting and packing the donations into more than 100 care packages. Donations were made by students, as well as supermarkets and pharmacies from across Bunbury.