Society of St. Vincent dePaul offers assistance to those who have fallen upon times of hardship and personal crisis. Ways in which SVdP helps include providing food, clothing, housing assistance, utility assistance, furniture, and bus tokens.

SVdP is an international organization of lay people with presence in over 135 countries. In Indianapolis, SVdP has been serving people in need since the early 1900's.

Over 50,000 young people from across the US are expected to converge on Indianpolis the week of October 20th for the FFA National Convention. Attendees have the opportunity to volunteer for National Days of Service (NDoS) at non-profit organizations in the host city.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul will again be the beneficiary of these motivated and hard-working youth.  SVdP is hosting four NDoS sessions at the Pratt-Quigley Center / Food Pantry and the Distribution Center.  Over 160 FFA volunteers are expected to help serve clients, sort & repackage food, assist with warehousing donations, paint meeting room & hallway, prepare landscaped areas, spread mulch, remove overgrowth, winterize gardens, and general weeding, leaf removal and cleanup.

SVdP welcomes the FFA to our city and appreciates the partnership in helping us serve the needy and maintain our facilities.

For a perspective on the value of the SVdP and FFA partnership, see the following news release:
http://www.ffa.org/documents/conv_2008_stvincentdepaul.pdf.

Congratulations to Pat Jerrell and his election to Archdiocesan Council President for a three-year term beginning October 1, 2008. Pat is a long time Vincentian and has served as Conference President, South District President and Council Vice President. For more information on Pat's goals and objectives for his term, please see his introductory article in the September 2008 issue of the Front Line newsletter.

Many thanks to Jake Asher as he completes six years as Council President and turns over the gavel to Pat. Jake oversaw many changes and considerable growth of the Indianapolis Council during his tenure. Best of luck to Jake and his wife Ann as they complete one journey, enjoy some well-earned rest and contemplate the next endeavor. See the September 2008 newsletter for Jake's departing comments.

Click here to check out our most recent newsletter which includes an article from Pat Jerrell.

DePaul University is offering a fascinating tour of France in August 2009. Click on:

Depaul Tour to France

As part of the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVdP), the first annual “Friends of the Poor, Walk a Mile in My Shoes” non-competitive walk was held on Saturday, September 27th (which was also the feast day of St Vincent).

The Indianapolis Council of the Society would like to thank the 60+ participants in the walk and their financial supporters for contributing over $6,200.  Funds will be used to help the poor either in particular parishes or at the SVdP Food Pantry and Distribution Center.  We are also grateful to the Walk’s corporate sponsors, PFM and Kline’s Water and to Stan’s Signs and Adrian Orchards for in-kind donations.

The Planning Committee for this first walk is pleased overall with the results, but much determined to make the second annual Walk next September an order of magnitude better in the areas of participation, pledges and sponsorships. If you are interested in helping in any way, send a message via the Contact Us option.

Please note that the “Friends of the Poor” walk does not replace the annual CROP Walk for World Hunger held the third Sunday in October each year.  Some parishes participate in the CROP Walk and the SVdP Council is a grateful recipient of a portion of the funds raised locally.

Thanks again to everyone for your role in helping SVdP help the needy.