THE SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL, COUNCIL OF LOS ANGELES
Posted by Bud Jackson
on Jul 23, 2014
The Society operates the Cardinal Manning Center for the homeless men on skid row in Los Angeles (the skid row capital of the U.S..) Chris Sariego, Director of Public Relations & Marketing, provided an informative presentation on the activities of the Society of St. Vincent De Paul. They have operations in 150 countries with over one million volunteers. The Society has been a community stronghold in Southern California for over 100 years and operates two large thrift stores in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
St. Vincent’s Family Housing for the homeless serves women and children. A prisoner resettlement house serves 16 lifers (over 30 years in prison). The Winter Shelter in Ventura has helped 17 families find homes. A free Learning Center teaches ESL and GED students. The Circle V Ranch is a camp that provides underserved children in a fun and nurturing environment during the summer.
Funding sources are from investments and dividends (48%), contributions (16%), grants and fees (17%), store sales net profit (11%), foundations (4%) and special events (4%).
The Society is an International, Catholic volunteer organization that serves the needy of any religious background free of charge. Founded in Paris, France in 1833 by a compassionate college student, Frederic Ozanam, and for over 100 years, Vincentian volunteers have served the suffering in Southern California. As sated from their website, "We help the needy become self-sufficient by providing emotional and financial support, food, clothing, furniture, appliances, housing and by connecting the disadvantaged to helpful resources in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Donations to our thrift stores make our work possible. Your financial gift or donations of household items help us help thousands of families every year. To donate clothes, furniture, appliances, or even cars call us at 1-800-974-3571 FREE pickup of donated goods."
Chris Sariego, Director of Public Relations & Marketing. To learn more about St. Vincent De Paul click on the following link to learn more www.svdpla.orgOther news worth mentioning . . .
Mary Jane was out for a week volunteering at Camp Oakes as a Director with the Los Cerritos YMCA branch.
Bill Pelligrino decided to celebrate the hot month of July by singing Jingle Bells to cool us down.
Tanya Duck was able to join us for lunch and reported that she was settling in to her new job nicely.
Duty Roster for July 29, 2014
Invocation Mary Jane Villalovos
Pledge Herman Mendez
Introductions Teri Mouren-Laurens
Program Buddy Jackson
Raffle William Pellegrino
Raffle Duane Mahan
Greeter John Rodgerson
Greeter James Schreiber