SERVING SMILES
Nicknamed Florence Nightingale by her family, Patricia Tassone says she was born to be a St Vincent de Paul volunteer.
“We try our best to get the funding for whatever people ask us for,” the grandmother-of-six tells Woman’s Day.
Patricia, 83, from Sydney’s Eastwood, works with Vinnies to help provide people with food vouchers, clothes, furniture, whitegoods and even medicine. “One lady who is a diabetic asked us for help, and we pay for her insulin,” she explains. “We also had a person call this week who needed washing machines.”
As well as helping those less fortunate, Patricia also volunteers in her local store in West Ryde.
“I look forward to going to work every weekend, sorting through the donations and meeting new customers,” she says. “We all have a lot of fun together!”
It seems apt that in the same year Patricia celebrates two decades of volunteering, the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW celebrates 100 years since its first charity shop opened.
The first Vinnies store, which was called the St Vincent de Paul Waste Collection Depot, was established by 10 men in a dilapidated shed in Newtown in 1922. It now has more than 30,000 volunteers working in shops across Australia.
Having recently semiretired from her job in engineering, Elinor Smith says she could not wait to put her hand up and volunteer at Vinnies.
“People have always told me I’ve got the gift of the gab,” says Elinor, 60, also from Eastwood. “I started a year ago, and I’ve never looked back – I feel like I’ve found my niche.
“I love talking to anyone that comes in, having a laugh and making people feel comfortable.”