Smiles All Around for Secret Santa Visit

In mid December, the employees from the Kentz Clonmel office, the Lansdowne Road site and the Ardkeen Hospital site took part in a Secret Santa Project in association with the St. Vincent de Paul, Ozanam House Youth Group in Dublin. One of our very own employees Donna McCaffrey, document controller for the Lansdowne Project volunteers at the Ozanam House Youth group 2 evenings per week and approached her colleagues with the idea that each employee then chose a boy or girl from a list of the children’s names and bought them a suitable gift.

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, is a voluntary organisation in Ireland working directly with people in need through an action-oriented programme, attempting to effect positive change through social justice. Their work primarily involves person-to-person contact. However, they are also involved in key social services, coordinating various community programmes and projects, believing that access to employment opportunities, education and health services are key determinants of social wellbeing. Be it through direct personal contact or via their community resource centres and youth clubs, the St. Vincent de Paul Society has embraced those who are marginalised and help them to rekindle their self-respect and sense of worth. They achieve this through individual personal development, by promoting self-sufficiency, enabling people to help themselves while maintaining the dignity of the individual.

The Ozanam House Youth Group operates out of the Ozanam House Community Resource Centre and consists of 50 children from the North East Inner City Dublin aged between 6 and 12 years of age. The Resource Centre, in the North Inner City, has been used by the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul for a variety of purposes over the past 80 years. It is a five-storey building and includes a basement area incorporating a crèche and gymnasium, a community hall, a computer centre, an arts & crafts and catering centre and several meeting and training rooms and offices.

The Ozanam Youth Group attends classes four evenings per week after school hours. The children undertake classes in choir, drama, dance, cookery, sports, arts & crafts, violin and guitar. These classes are facilitated and taught predominantly by volunteers with some paid staff involved for certain disciplines. Parents also assist in the group and become involved in all areas when and where possible.Overall, these classes offer the children an opportunity to find their hidden talents and a chance to develop the habit of engagement, whereby they develop their own sense of worth and wellbeing, of self respect as well as respect for other people and other  things.

There was great excitement on Wednesday 10^th December when Santa Claus visited the Ozanam Youth Group children with a sack full of toys courtesy of the Kentz employees. The children were overjoyed with their gifts and great evening was had by all.

Tony Rock, Manager of Ozanam House Resource Centre commented:

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at Kentz for their kind donations and gifts for the children. When you see the children’s faces light up when they received their gifts you appreciate the true value of the generosity of the staff. It is through the support from companies like Kentz that makes it possible to do what we do here in the centre and for that we are most grateful."