The expression ‘age is just a number’ has never been truer than for Vinnies supporter Doreen. With a long history of helping others, at 86 years of age she continues to give to those less fortunate.
“As I say to people sometimes, I’m very blessed because I’ve got a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and in the mountains a warm bed to get into at night.”
Doreen and her husband were both involved with Vinnies for several decades. Doreen worked in Vinnies Shops for more than 30 years, and through Vinnies the two of them would also do home visits.
Home visits are still carried out today by our volunteers and members, and offer comfort and support to people struggling to make ends meet. They were also a way for Doreen and her husband to meet people and see what else could be done to improve their situation.
“They’d come into the shop and say ‘oh I need some food or I need this, that and the other’, and then they would be referred to a Conference member who would visit them in their house. And that was very good because some of them would say that they needed a bit of food, and you’d get to the house and you’d find they had no furniture in it, they were sleeping on a mattress on the floor and that sort of thing, and you’d open the fridge and there’d be nothing there. You’d get an insight into what was really going on.”
Doreen has not only spent her life helping others, she is now looking to make a difference after she has gone.
She explains why she is including Vinnies in her Will. “I get the magazine from Vinnies as a donor, and I see what they do at the Matthew Talbot Hostel and the people there, and the women who’ve been sleeping in cars and all that sort of thing, and I think oh, gosh, you know, if I can help in some way.”
Leaving a gift in your Will to Vinnies is a meaningful way to impact the work that we do, from providing food and accommodation, to employing caring caseworkers supporting people along their journey out of homelessness or disadvantage. Doreen’s legacy of love will be a gift that helps continue her work well into the future.
If you would like more information about how to leave a gift to Vinnies in your Will, please contact the Gifts in Wills Team on (02) 8622 0387 or email us at bequests@vinnies.org.au.