The Stampies!

Jesuit Stamps receives donations of postage stamps and stamp collections from the community which are then sold to collectors and dealers.  The stamps have to be trimmed, sometimes floated off paper and organised into stamp albums or shoe boxes as required. 

I first became involved with Jesuit Mission in 2002 when I joined the Melbourne office in Power Street, Hawthorn as a volunteer, processing receipts for donations, banking them together with money received from the Stamps group (the Stampies) who worked in the room next to the Mission office.  After a few years I left to do volunteer work with Jesuit Social Services in Richmond until the Covid 19 lockdowns started and they no longer had work for me.  

After the Stampies resumed their activities, when the lockdowns and restrictions ended, I joined them early in 2022, helping to sort stamps for sale to collectors.  At that stage, I had no knowledge of stamp collecting whatsoever.  I pick up bits and pieces of knowledge I glean from time to time.  When necessary I ask for instructions from our two volunteer experts, Angelo our leader, and John, both of whom have been collecting stamps for many years.  Angelo, for example, began collecting as a teenager or earlier, when he was still living in Greece.  When he came to Australia on his own he started collecting again from scratch as he had nothing to do.  He and John know instinctively the type and value of a stamp, just from a glance.  They also give free advice to people who have collections but need advice on how to handle them.

We are motivated by the camaraderie amongst ourselves and above all by the knowledge that what we are doing has value out of all proportion to the work we put into it.  Every dollar we receive from the sale of stamps goes to the Jesuit Mission because all our stamps are donated by various organisations, deceased estates and friends, and there are no deductions for expenses.  Moreover, Jesuit Mission manages projects for poor people in India, South East Asia, Timor-Leste, Africa and Ukraine, and an Australian dollar will be worth a lot more in these places.  Since the Stampies recommenced work in 2021 we have raised over $8,000 for Jesuit Mission.   

So save any postage stamps you receive or if you would like to donate your stamp collection, please send them to us at Jesuit Mission Stamp Unit, c/- 130 Power Street, Hawthorn Vic 3122.

We are always looking for new volunteers.  We meet weekly on a Tuesday.  If you would like to help those you may never meet, but whose lives can be transformed by your generosity, please come and see us at the Stamp Unit in the Jesuit Mission Office in Hawthorn.  

By Tony Santospirito