Society of Saint Vincent de Paul - Saint Lawrence O'Toole Conference
Liz Martucci
Bi-weekly at 7 PM in the Parish House
The St. Lawrence O’Toole Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is one of the oldest SVdP Conferences in the United States. Our Conference has been active since it was formed in December of 1865 (only thirty-two years after the original Society of Saint Vincent de Paul was founded in France).
Our primary goal is our spiritual growth, but our common ministry endeavors to alleviate suffering from poverty, loneliness, hunger, homelessness, and financial desperation. We assist people of all faiths and backgrounds.
We make home visits to those who call for financial assistance. Visiting in pairs, we listen to their story and their needs so that we can discern how best to help them.
We coordinate a women’s shelter for the homeless during the winter months. Our Shelter operates every other weekend—evenings, Friday through Sunday—from November through April. The women are given a hot meal when they arrive. They have a warm bed overnight and are provided with breakfast in the morning before they leave. We have volunteers who setup each night, in addition to volunteers who stay overnight.
Once a month, we sponsor Dinner at Ronald McDonald House. We provide a delicious dinner to pediatric cancer patients, their families, and the staff — typically 100 people each time.
In addition to the food and toy drives that we organize throughout the year, we also coordinate The Christmas Angel Project. Two local parishes provide us with a list of people in need and the preferred gift choices for them. We collect over 400 wrapped presents from generous St. Ignatius parishioners to give to those two parishes.
