One Saturday morning, a woman and her two small children were dropped off at St. Patrick church looking for aid. Since the office was closed. only the maintenance men were there. Since this lady only spoke Spanish, only the maintenance men could partially understand what she wanted. The office manager was contacted. He called two members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society who lived near the church to see if they could help in any way. When they arrived at the church they needed the maintenance men to try to interpret what she wanted. She need rent money for the room where she was living, and food. One of the children was in pain from an earache. She was taken to the member's home and given food for a few days, baby asprin for the sick child and then driven to the home where she was staying. The landlord was contacted and promised payment of the rental bill when the church office was open on Monday morning , plus further aid as needed by the St. Vincent de Paul Society .
I needed to dispose of an adorable table and chair set quickly! I called and they referred me to Jeff’s phone number. He requested I send a pic by text. He immediately called back and picked up that set plus several other items while he was here! Moving and called ST Vincent because I had been a volunteer with the Ministry for 5 years and know first hand that all monies go directly to the poor and in need. There is NO profit at all to this wonderful cause for the local communities!! God Bless all that they do.
You will not be disappointed if you donate here! Pat C
I have volunteered in care and outreach to the poor and underserved for over 40 years. The Society of St Vincent de Paul allows me to combine my faith with volunteer work in my home community. I do home visits with a partner to those in financial crisis in our neighborhood. They call in as "friend in need" to our central Palm Beach County number and are routed by their residence to the appropriate "conference" within the county. Our conference team usually responds within 24-48 hours from the emailed message. Our money comes from the poor box in the local Roman Catholic church and other anonymous gifts through the year .WE help those in default with FPL, their water company, their landlord or struggling in providing food on the table. This is crisis, not maintenance or continuing support. No cash is carried or given to clients. All monies go to the debt and not the client. Our greatest problem are those clients feeling entitled by government programs to demand we pay their bills with our poor box money. Our outreach is looking at the face of Christ in our clients who strive to work and care for their families and themselves and need small amounts of money for crises. This is not a perfect charity as it is an amalgamation of volunteers who have varying philosophies about reaching out to the poor but it is a true loving group of people working in their neighborhood as St Vincent de Paul led us to believe it is our responsibility to try to help. To our clients in need we are five star all the way. As a volunteer I strive to make the local conference stonger and more effective with our limited funds. of the many Christian charities I have worked with, thi the Vincentians carry their message in word, thought, and deed. I am humbled as I share prayer with the clients and my fellow volunteers.
