Community & Business
12 March, 2026
Students Supporting the Community: Meals on Wheels
St. Francis De Sales students were out and about last Friday the 6th of March, delivering meals to those who need it.
Three students, from St. Frances de Sales, Lochlan, James and Sophia spent their afternoon dropping off meals to Clifton’s elderly.
Chaperoned by principal Brendan Redinger, the three students politely and joyfully dropped off meals to Marg Harper, Judith McNamara and Hazel Dunn.
One of the Catholic primary school’s values is community.
James was still figuring that out when Mr. Redinger asked his students which school value their participation in meals on wheels corresponded to.
The young lad, after a moment’s thought, apprehensively answered “Welcoming?”
“No, community, mate.” Mr Redinger answered, smiling.
“Our involvement with Meals on Wheels is a powerful expression of the values we seek to instil each day at St. Francis de Sales: Community, Love of Christ and Neighbour, Stewardship, and Justice and Peace, along with a deep commitment to building a just and caring community,” Mr Redinger said.
The excitement on the faces of the recipients was palpable.
Such a small effort can have resounding effects.
“The partnership gives our students and staff an authentic way to live out our Gospel vales,” the Principal said.
“Service becomes real and visible: students see firsthand how small acts of kindness, delivering a meal or offering a smile, can make a significant difference in someone’s day.
“Many clients share that the human connection means just as much as the food itself, describing our students as a source of comfort, encouragement, and social connection during times when they may otherwise feel isolated,” Mr Redinger told The Clifton Courier.
It’s an holistic education that these students are receiving.
They aren’t learning maths or English, but instead they’re given the chance to realise that we humans need each other.
We’ll grow old, and we’ll all one day need a hand.
It’s a lesson that sticks with a young student, still figuring out the world: To see how little can be enough.
“Students and staff consistently describe the experience as eye‑opening, grounding, and deeply rewarding,” Mr Redinger said.
“It fosters a deeper sense of empathy and social awareness, a strong sense of purpose, growing confidence, and a real connection to our wider community, building a shared pride in being part of St. Francis de Sales.”
The participation in the service is important today.
As comfort overcomes connection and whatever’s hard is easily distilled into what’s easy.
It can seem a bit bleak out there at times.
It may even be easy to fall into hopelessness while we watch the world we knew shrink into whatever’s next.
It may seem like the work of Lochlan, James, Sophia and Mr Redinger is naught but a drop in a big ocean.
But to quote David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, “Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”
