St. Mary's Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Thank you … The St. Vincent de Paul Society expresses heartfelt thanks to the Parish of St. Mary and all who donated to the recent Walk for the Poor. Your generosity was overwhelming. All donations will be used to support those in need in Franklin.

The Knights of Columbus present a donation from their Food Card Drive to the St. Mary St. Vincent de Paul Society

Upcoming Events

SVdP Food Pantry

The St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry is looking for the following items to help our Franklin neighbors in need.

• Corn
• Peas
• Complete Pancake Mix
• Syrup
• Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta

Mission Statement

A network of friends, inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.

(SVdP USA, Approved April 14, 2018)

Volunteer: The St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVdP) is a volunteer, lay Catholic organization with a Conference at St. Mary Parish. Adult men and women, known as Vincentians,  help each other grow spiritually and live out the gospel values by helping neighbors in need in their community, regardless of religious affiliation. New volunteers are always welcome and receive a formal orientation and training.

Assistance: A person or family in need is encouraged to call SVdP (Assistance Letter).  Vincentians respond to the call and make arrangements for two SVdP members to make a home visit to determine how best the Conference can be of help. All information is kept confidential, and each person is treated with dignity.

Donation: SVdP Conference funding comes from donations. St. Mary Parish parishioners and parish groups, including the Knights of Columbus, have been very generous. Other funding sources include the Friends of the Poor Walk, a Christmas card donation program, and donations from local companies and organizations. Donations in memory of loved ones are also an appreciated source of funding for us. The Conference maintains a small non-perishable food pantry made possible by generous food donations from parishioners.

Please contact St. Vincent de Paul Society:

• Assistance - 508-918-2291 or svdp02038@gmail.com; Assistance Letter
• Volunteer - 508-918-2291 or svdp02038@gmail.com
• Donations – Mail check to: SVdP Society, St. Mary Parish, One Church Square, Franklin, MA 02038

Interim Results 10/1/23 to 5/31/24

“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” —Mother Teresa

Thank you to all the parishioners, the Knights of Columbus, CCD classes and all the other organizations for your continued support of SVDP by generously donating food and financial assistance so we can help Franklin residents in need. Special thanks to Father Bob, Father Jack, Fr. John and Deacon Ron for spreading God’s message of the importance of helping others.

In the first eight months of our Fiscal Year 2024 we continued our mission of serving Neighbors in need. We meet in pairs with people seeking assistance to thoroughly assess the need either in their homes or at the church. Our 38 volunteers had calls with neighbors in need over 900 times.

Altogether financially, your donations served families 221 times for over $44,000 with the largest items being housing, utilities, furniture, medical, automobile related and gift cards for Easter meals/food/gas. Any financial assistance was paid directly to the provider of services and not to the person seeking assistance.

Your generosity also helped our day-to-day operations as follows:

• Distribute over 437 bags of donated food and 43 Hygiene bags.
• Give out 41 Complimentary SVDP Thrift Store vouchers worth over $2,000
• Caring Tree 98 families / 224 people with Gifts cards of $9,500
• Caring Tree 103 families, 262 people helped for a total of over $11,000 in Gift Cards
• Mother’s Day Bags for 46 people worth over $2,000

We continue to have strong relationships with town organizations and businesses. In total we gave families 81 referrals to town, state and federal agencies that might help them.

We thank you, our fellow parishioners, for your generosity, and we want you to know your contributions are very appreciated by the people we serve.

The most important members of this Ministry are each of you, our Contributing members, without whom we would not be able to serve. We thank you for your generosity, and want you to know your contributions are very appreciated by the people we serve.

Promoters of Hope, Apostles of Charity and Advocates of the Dignity of the human person.