council

The Society's History

The FoundingThe society was founded in Paris in 1833 by Frederic Ozanam and five other university students under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul. The Society world wide now has approximately a million members spread among 46,000 confraternities in 130 countries of five continents.

In Canada The first Conference of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Canada was founded by Doctor Joseph Painchaud In 1846, in Quebec City. There are now more than a thousand conferences and councils in Canada, with more than 11,000 members whose principal activity was to visit and bring help to our friends in need, bringing them material help and comfort, and spiritual and moral support.

In OntarioOn November 11, 1850 the first conference of The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Ontario was founded at St. Michael Cathedral in Toronto. By 2004, the Society's Ontario Council included 3,584 members associated with 442 conferences throughout the province. Although the year 2004 income for the Ontario Council was in the millions of dollars, less than 1% was used for administration.

In Peterborough and Northumberland CountiesThe first conference of The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Peterborough was founded at St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral in the year 1886 and was revitalized by Bishop Doyle in 1980. Today there are six conferences with 250 volunteer Vincentians making up the Peterborough Particular Council of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul . Five conferences are located in the city of Peterborough at the following churches, St.Anne, St.Alphonsus, St.John/Sacred Heart, St.Peter-in -Chains, and, Immaculate Conception. The other other conferences are located at St.Mary's Church in Lindsay.

Accomplishments

In its simplest terms, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Peterborough Particular Council, is an indispensable non-profit charitable organization for those in need in the cities of Peterborough and Lindsay. The Peterborough Particular Council, composed of six Conferences and a store, assist thousands of men, women and children, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assistance in terms of material goods such as grocery store food vouchers, grocery food banks, clothing, furniture and household goods.

In fiscal year 200X the Peterborough Particular Council's Conferences and store assisted;
                  Adults                                                                            XXXX
                  Children                                                                         XXXX
                  Dollar value of distributed food vouchers                        XXXX
                  Dollar value of distributed clothing                                  XXXX
                  Dollar value of distributed furniture & household goods    XXXX

In addition to the above thousands of dollars worth of food was given to our friends in need from the Conferences' food banks. Most of this food is donated to these Society's food banks from Kawartha Food Share.

The Society's Store relies solely on donations from community residents and businesses. Everything we have to help the needy comes from these donations in the form of cash, and, new and used goods such as clothing, furniture, and, household items. One hundred percent of the stores profit made from the sale of the donated merchandise is used to buy food vouchers from local super markets. These vouchers are then distributed to those in need in our local communities regardless of religious affiliation. The Store does require that all donated merchandise be in good useable condition, otherwise, they will have to bear the expense of garbage dumping fees.Further funds to operate the Peterborough Conferences are raised by donations at the individual Conferences located at parish churches. Today's economy has dramatically increased the number of people in need in our community. At the same time as the number of people needing assistance was increasing, we experienced the problem of reduced donations.

The St.Vincent de Paul Society is always in desperate need for both cash and mechandise donations. But, if you are unable to contribute in this way, all we ask is if you are considering buying quality new and used merchandise, please check the Society's store out first. If the store can meet your requirements, you then have the added bonus of not only getting what you wanted but knowing you also provided someone less fortunate in our community with food, and, it did not cost you an extra cent. We invite everyone to visit the Peterborough Store at 256 Murray Street. You will be pleased with both the quality and pricing for the new and gently used merchandise being offered.

Please be generous with your donations (tax receipts are possible), REMEMBER THE NEED IS URGENT.

Board of Directors

The Board Executive
Mazziotti-Armitage           -    President
Bob Hartlen                     -    Past President
Richard Wink                   -    Vice-President
Dorothy Dow                    -    Treasurer
Anne Sedgwick                 -    Secretary

Spiritual Advisor
Sister Eileen McManus

The Board Directors
Eileen Rutherford             -    Immaculate Conception Conference
Marg Tunney                   -    Sacred Heart/St.John Conference
Bob McLaughlin               -    St. Anne Conference
Richard Wink                  -    St. Alphonsus Conference
Jo Ann McPherson            -    St. Mary Conference, Lindsay
Frank Drumm                  -    St.Peter-in-Chains Conference

Store Committee Chair
Fred O'Donnell

How We Do It

We're here to help. Since 1884, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Peterborough Particular Council, has offered a crucial helping hand to the needy men, women and children in our community. Today, the St. Vincent de Paul Society is one of Peterborough's major human service organizations and a leader in providing support for the members of our community that are suffering from homelessness, poverty, addiction and domestic violence. The St. Vincent de Paul Society is a Catholic lay organization composed primarily of volunteers but where necessary employs people of all faiths. Our mission is to serve anyone in need through direct person-to-person service. We focus on breaking the cycles of homelessness, substance abuse and domestic violence, helping our friends in need become self-sufficient, reducing the harm they cause to themselves and others, and consistently treating all of our friends in need with compassion and respect. A singular strength is our ability and willingness to help these friends with more complex issues, often those no one else is willing to give a helping hand.

The Peterborough Particular Council presenting is composed of six Conferences. There are five Conferences in Peterborough city and one is located in Lindsay. The names of the conferences are shown in the following bulleted list. Click anyone of them to find out more information on their services they offer to the less fortunate in our community.