Catholic Charities
Our history
The Catholic Charities Appeal was founded in 1941 by Archbishop Beovich to help people in our community.
Originally the Appeal was established to support the four orphanages in the Diocese:
- The Orphanage of St Vincent de Paul - founded in 1866 (was transferred to Goodwood in 1888 under the care of the Sisters of Mercy)
- St Joseph’s Orphanage Largs Bay - founded in 1903 (under the care of the Sisters of St Joseph)
- The industrial Home for Boys at Brooklyn Park or Boys Town (under the direction of the Brothers of St John the Baptist)
- The Foundling Home for infants in association with the Refuge at Wattle Street, Fullarton - run by the Sisters of St Joseph until 1963 when the Daughters of Charity took over. It became Louise Place. (The Refuge was founded by Mother Mary MacKillop in 1868 and moved to Fullarton in 1901).
As social circumstances changed the large orphanages were closed and children were cared for in family-type homes. This led to an increase in the number of Catholic welfare agencies providing for the different needs of children and families.
A call for increased giving to the Catholic Diocesan Charities Appeal was made. Archbishop Gleeson was then able to include these other agencies in the Appeal.
Information on the five agencies that Catholic Charities helps today can be found here.
Our latest Appeal information can be found here.
me4u - help each other through
Students throughout South Australia continue to play a crucial role in fundraising for Catholic Charities.
- Catholic Charities has launched a bright and colourful me4u website that highlights and celebrates the fundraising work done in schools to help those in need 'in our own backyard.'
- The me4u campaign’s focus is to assist schools in generating ways to bring students together for an event and/or fundraising activity with the main focus of reinforcing Saint Mary MacKillop's message - ‘Never see a need without doing something about it.’
- The website aims to celebrate and share this important work and show how everyone can make a difference even if it seems small - you can access the me4u website via this link
- We also have a me4u facebook page it can be accessed via this link