Vinnies Van and James Sheahan students bring Easter joy to underprivileged children

The food van has seen an increase in the number of people accessing its service this year, many of them children, and the students from James Sheahan Catholic High School have made sure those children don't miss out on getting a chocolate rabbit or egg.

Vinnies Van support coordinator Keith Dowling collected the eggs on Wednesday and although he did not go out with the van when they were distributed, he said volunteers reported the children as being delighted by the donations.

"The smile on the faces of those that were giving those eggs the other day is nothing compared to the eggs that were given out last night, it was just amazing," Mr Dowling said.

"The reports that I got back from the team leader were just joyous.

"The Easter eggs are a great connection between the two kids I think, the kids at the school and the fact that there are kids underprivileged in Orange that get those eggs.

"Over 60 per cent of our clients are kids from different locations around Orange and it's a matter of helping them celebrate the Easter holiday season and give them the eggs Mum and Dad cannot afford. It's a cost-of-living issue and whatever else so one of the wonderful [outcomes] of the giving of the eggs is that it gives them hope.

"They are not missing out."

The school's Student Representative Council (SRC) coordinator Bec Murdoch said the whole school took part in the Easter egg drive with a competition among roll call rooms as to which group donated the most.

"The SRC ran the competition in the roll call. Every morning for the last two weeks they've gone around the roll calls to see and collect the eggs that people have donated and to get people donating we offered house points," Miss Murdoch said.

Once all the points were tallied McAuley won, having donated more than 100 eggs, and La Salle came second and third.

The donation was part of an ongoing initiative between the school and non-profit organisation and later this year James Sheahan students will do another food drive for Vinnies in winter and a Christmas drive at the end of the year.

Mr Dowling said when it came to the donated Easter eggs "there were too many to count".

"We had lots of little ones and lots of big ones and lots of in between."

Mr Dowling said the van goes out two days every fortnight on a Monday and a Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't distribute all of them, it just would have been too much," he said of Wednesday's donation.

"We probably had about 80 clients all together [Wednesday] night on the run so over the coming runs that we do in the next fortnight we will have that on Monday and Wednesday.

"It will be distributed and the joy of it will continue."

Mr Dowling said on the regular Vinnies Van runs warm Milo is particularly popular with the children who often also get sandwiches.

"A lot of them do take more than just the one and we are quite happy for that because they probably take it home and they either have it for a toastie when there's no food on the table or take it to school for the next day. It's not unusual for the kids to go from the van to home for their other siblings at home with a little lunch bag full of sandwiches and an apple or two squeezed into the next bag," he said.

He said so far this year there's also been a steady increase in the number of people visiting the van for a hot drink, a piece of fruit or something else to eat and even a bit of conversation.

"We have four locations in Orange that we stop at and usually there is a considerable number of children that come."

The Vinnies Van has been operating for 15 years in Orange and in addition to the 80 people who came on Wednesday, 102 people visited the van on Monday. Each time about 60 per cent of attendees were children. In February, about 40 people attended per night.

"That increase we were expecting because the pressure is on families at the moment and all of the other issues that go along with not having the means to get yourself out of a quagmire," Mr Dowling said.

"The whole Central West has experienced a considerable amount through the flood and the adversities of life at this point in time and it's not unusual for the demand to be outside of Orange as well."

However, that increased demand for sandwiches and drinks is also resulting in a need for more volunteers.

"It's going two days a fortnight and we'd like to do that two days a week, at least in Orange and then looking further afield," Mr Dowling said.

"In order to do that, it's volunteers that are required."

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