The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP)

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP)

Mission Statement

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) leads women and men to join together as Vincentians and grow spiritually by offering person to person service to those who are needy and suffering in the tradition of its’ founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam and patron, St. Vincent de Paul. Vincentians are united in an international society of charity by their spirit of poverty, humility and sharing which is nourished by prayer and reflection, mutually supportive gatherings and the meeting of two aims—do a great deal of spiritual good to its’ members though the exercise of charity and to do a little spiritual and temporal good to poor families in the name of Jesus Christ. In attending to the needy and suffering, Vincentians are ministering to Jesus Christ himself.

St. Joseph Pinole SVdP Conference

The St. Joseph Pinole SVdP Conference is a ministry within our church and one of several conferences located in the west county of Contra Costa. The Vincentians could not continue to conduct home visits to our neighbors and provide them with food vouchers to purchase groceries without the ongoing generosity of the parishioners during the 5^th Sunday of the month second collection. We have distributed Back to School gift cards to the school age children of our neighbors during the month of August annually. With the parishioners help, we have distributed yearly Christmas gifts and food certificates to the families in our data base who reside within our parish boundaries. We provide quarterly twinnage to St. David’s Food Pantry. Our neighbors are very appreciative of all the assistance they have received from the SVDP ministry.

In the fall, our Vincentians participate in the annual SVdP Walk for the Poor event where we walk to raise funds for our own SVdP conference. We collect gently used clothing and linen items from the parishioners during Bundle Sunday which are sorted, sold or distributed at the SVdP thrift stores in East Contra Costa.

We would like to acknowledge and thank the YLGI sisters for their ongoing cookie donations when we prepare and distribute lunch at the GRIP Soup Kitchen every 4^th Sunday of the month. These generous ladies adopt needy SVDP families at Thanksgiving and Christmas annually. They also support us with an annual charitable donation as a result of their tireless fundraising efforts. 

Inquiries

If you know of a family in need who resides within our parish boundaries or would like more information regarding the SVdP ministry, please contact Henrietta Buescher at 510-691-1813. We meet every 3rd Tuesday of the month in the Parish Center at 7:30pm and invite you to join us.