Over a number of years the Vine Inn Barossa has supported the Social Justice Fund at Nuriootpa High School, and has collectively put around $15,000 to the cause.
Ms Anne Barclay, Assistant Principal and Wellbeing Team at Nuriootpa High School, explained that the wellbeing team uses the funds to assist families who have a genuine need for extra funds and those who have prioritised their finances.
“Funds go towards people who have prioritised their budget. Those who are humble and community minded and have done the best they can with money but still need extra help,” said Anne.
“People have often sought budgeting help from other community places such as Lutheran Community Care. We always ask families if they’ve visited there or sought help for their budget first – families that still struggle whilst budgeting need our help.”
The Social Justice Fund has helped students with families experiencing illness, victims of domestic violence and housing problems, by providing funds for uniforms, camps, excursions etc.
The funds have also enabled some students at Nuriootpa High School to study music.
Anne explained that lots of families haven’t been able to afford the $120 per year that the Education Department charges for music, on top of buying their own instrument, but the fund has provided money for students to study music.
Mr Chris Linden, CEO of the Vine Inn Barossa said the reason they had not widely published their involvement in the cause is because they want to protect people’s dignity.
“The idea of it all is about helping kids. Adults can generally look after themselves to a degree,” said Chris.
“Certainly as a business we try and help adults, but one of our priorities is to care for disadvantaged children. “As a personal point, I think it’s incumbent on us to support kids, because if we don’t support kids to become decent adults we’re not going to have a whole lot of decent adults.”
From a local point of view, each year the Vine Inn holds a charity golf day, which receives outstanding support from the community and suppliers, and the majority of revenue raised goes to the Social Justice Fund.
A share of what was raised this year went to the Social Justice Fund at Nuriootpa High School, with $2,900 going towards a group that helps with children who can’t afford their driving licence or all the lessons.
Chris is also a board member of the Liquor Industry Charity Golf Club, which also donated to the Social Justice Fund this year.
Chris believes that you hear plenty of the negatives that happen within our community, but there are so many kind, generous, heartfelt people who don’t look for or receive the acknowledgement they deserve.
“If we can create one more positive little human being then we’ll be happy,” said Chris. “Nuriootpa High School and the Vine Inn are about looking after our community and particularly our children.”
*Photo and Story Courtesy of The Leader Newspaper, 2017.
Recent Comments