DIOFOOD BAG
This is a great opportunity to organise your parish or school group to donate much-needed food and toiletry items for refugee organisations in the Diocese of Parramatta. Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Parramatta and the House of Welcome (HoW) in Granville provide food and other essentials for refugees and people seeking asylum who have little other support. The Diocesan Food Drive Roster is flexible and works around your group’s schedule. Find out more below.
You can also support JRS and HoW with a cash donation:
Agencies such as Jesuit Refugee Service and House of Welcome need to provide food for 1300 people each week.
We can be part of this support network and make a difference to people struggling the most in our community: Take part in this joint initiative of MET – Peace, Justice Ecology and The Diocesan Journey Walking with Refugees and People Seeking Protection.
Watch this video made by parishioners from St Thomas Aquinas, Springwood
ITEMS NEEDED
General items
- New winter blankets
- Basmati Rice
- Cooking Oil
- Long life milk
- Tinned tuna, red kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas and fruit
- Biscuits and muesli bars
- Oats and cereal
- Tinned tomatoes
- Tea and Coffee
- Honey
- Jam
- Noodles
Toiletries
- Nappies (large sizes)
- Toothpaste and toothbrushes
- Shampoo
- Sanitary pads and napkins
- Razors and shaving foam
- Deodorant (male & female)
- Soap
How Your Parish & School Can Help
Sign up to our Diocese Food Drive Roster so that JRS and House of Welcome can have a steady and reliable flow of food and hygiene products all year round! We can be part of ensuring families seeking destitution know they’re not alone.
Sign up!
Click on the button and choose the date(s) your group would like to complete.
You will be asked to log in. If you are using DIOFOOD BAG for the first time, please either create an account by clicking on "New user" or sign in with your Google account details. If you have used this service before, please use the log in details you have created at your first visit or use your Google account details.
After signing in, you will be asked your
• Parish name • Email • Phone number
• Whether you would need help transporting the food and hygiene items to House of Welcome or Jesuit Refugee Service
• If it's your first time and you'd like to contact a parish to learn the tricks of the trade
• If you anticipate needing a trailer to collect the items from the food drive
This information will be added to a spreadsheet so we can contact you. You will receive an email of confirmation and a member of the team will contact you to thank you and answer any questions you have. We’re looking for drivers to help, too! If you’re able to volunteer your time as a driver, click here
Interested? Start the process.
For more information, or other ways you can help and get involved, contact PJE Facilitator James at James.Atanasious@parracatholic.org
Jesuit Refugee Service
JRS accompanies, serves and advocates for refugees and people seeking asylum and other forcibly displaced people in our own country. These people face destitution, limbo and homelessness as Government policy grows increasingly unwelcoming and punitive. We offer dignity and hope through emergency assistance, temporary shelter, a foodbank, professional casework, community activities, employment support, school engagement, legal advice, targeted advocacy, and a project to empower women seeking asylum.
Diocesan Journey Walking with Refugees and People Seeking Protection
Since August 2017, the Diocese of Parramatta, led by MET – Peace, Justice, Ecology, in conjunction with CatholicCare, Jesuit Refugee Service, House of Welcome, St Vincent de Paul Society, Community Migrant Resource Centre, and the Sydney Alliance, has been undertaking a Diocesan Journey: Walking with Refugees and People Seeking Protection. The journey responds to Bishop Vincent’s invitation to Catholic communities to respond to their plight of people seeking protection with understanding and compassion.
For more information and ways to get involved, please contact PJE Facilitator James at James.Atanasious@parracatholic.org
