Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP) St. Teresa Conference
Formed December 9, 1985

In 1833 a brilliant young law student in Paris named Frederick Ozanam was so appalled by the conditions of the poor that he organized about six other students and himself into a society dedicated to serving the poor by visiting them and providing emergency assistance through food, clothing, comfort and where appropriate spiritual guidance.  They named the society after St. Vincent de Paul, a priest of the early 1600’s in France, who had dedicated his whole life to founding charitable organizations to help the poor,  and all the less fortunate members of society.  The St. Vincent de Paul Society spread at an incredible rate and they are now functioning in more than 120 countries around the world.

St. Teresa St. Vincent de Paul Conference, delivers food hampers, Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week, in response to requests left on our answering service. (call 749-1501 for help) Our delivery area matches the Parish boundaries.

In addition to food hampers, vouchers for our clothing store at 328 King St. W in Kitchener may be given to any family in need of clothing.

Furniture vouchers for Worth a Second Look furniture store, at 97 Victoria St. North may also be given to the families who are in need of furnishings and household items for their homes.

Vincentians work in groups of a minimum of two when doing these calls. Currently we rotate on a three week schedule to cover the Hamper delivery activity.

Each Christmas, St. Teresa SSVP and parishioners prepare and deliver Christmas hampers to the poor in our area. We provide food for Christmas Dinner plus additional food to help through the Christmas period. Children sixteen and under receive gifts. These gifts are gathered as a result of our Angel Tree which is supported by the people of St. Teresa Parish. The tree is decorated with Angels representing the age and gender of each child on our Christmas Hamper list. Parishioners take Angels from the tree and bring in an unwrapped gift appropriate to the child represented on the Angel.

Other areas of need can also be addressed as required, these needs are usually brought to our conference meetings, which are scheduled for the last Tuesday of each month following Mass.

It is the spiritual and financial support of our thoughtful parishioners that allows us to meet the needs of our neighbours.

Our conference is always open to new members who feel they would like to be hands on in our Society of St. Vincent de Paul.