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An Empowering Vision

This is the first Capital Campaign ever conducted by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Peterborough Particular Council. Our vision is for a vital new Peterborough City Community Centre for the non-profit charity. The Community Centre will not only provide the charitable-aid programs presently available to the poor, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, but will be able to offer even more services for the needy. An investment of $X,XXX,XXX.00 will need to be raised to allow the Society to improve and expand our current efforts and develop initiates that will help those in need more effectively. It is an investment necessary for building the lives and futures of those who need and seek our assistance. With your support, we can help build hope for the growing population of the poor, suffering and forgotten in Peterborough. Your gift for the new Community Centre that will house a Thrift Store, Food Pantry and Service/Advocacy Centre will make this dream possible. An artist concept of the new centre is below.

The Society will maintain the present five city conferences. This will allow the Society's conferences to continue to work with those in need of help within their present boundaries. After interviewing a person requesting help, the conference volunteers will determine if such help is required, and if so, will direct them to the new Community Centre for food, clothing and basic furniture.

The Benefits Of This New Community Centre Are;

A resourceful environment that provides privacy and fosters respect for our neighbors in need. It will improve access and increase operational efficiency. Our friends in need will come with confidence to select food, clothing, and furniture, discuss problems and receive assistance.

An expanded and improved food pantry. Our present food pantry facilities are located at five locations Peterborough. These are very small pantries and are not adequately providing food for the hundreds of people we serve each year. At and beyond this level of demand, an appropriate loading dock, adequate storage space and reliable cooling equipment will be necessary to enable efficient processing of tons of donated food.

An innovated customer-choice food model, which operates much as a grocery store does. This model allows the needy to choose the foods their families prefer and will eat. The model helps honor the dignity and ethnic diversity of our friends in need. This also minimizes and promotes efficient distribution of resources.

An expanded and improved Thrift Store. A welcoming reception area and private consultation and conference rooms will ensure confidential discussions of the needs of those we serve. This new Thrift store will be able to give assistance with clothing, furniture, household goods, utilities, rent and basic pharmacy services. Staff and volunteers will provide an empathetic ear and person-to-person assistance while guiding them toward long-term solutions. It is further expected that the Society will run a shuttle bus service on set days of the week between the 5 conferences and the new Community Centre for those we serve.

The new Thrift Store will be much larger, and, the attractive well lit store will ensure ordinary shoppers a pleasant and safe place to shop. The store will be located in a high traffic area to optimize it's exposure in the city. The Thrift Store will include an area serving coffee and muffins with an eating area where shoppers can relax before or after shopping. This will not only bring in shoppers to the store but will also be a significant new revenue generator in itself. It is possible that the Centre could have a stand-alone coffee and muffin store instead of having it included in the Thrift Store. It is expected the Thrift Stores will more than quadruple the present store's gross sales.

Expanded opportunity for community advocacy. But for all the good work charities like the Society of St. Vincent De Paul and other charities do to distribute food and clothing to the needy, they reinforce the distinction between those who belong and those who do not. Only those who are able to purchase food and clothing through normal means and donate to charities are full members of our consumer society. But those who receive food bank parcels and clothing, while grateful for the help in feeding and clothing themselves and their families, are acutely aware that this is not the normal way to acquire life's necessities in our society. Their status as food bank and clothing recipients marks them as poor and not belonging, excluded from the mainstream. Their dignity as human beings suffers as a result. If this indignity last over a long period of time their resolve to improve themselves is also diminished. It is only through advocacy that we can find ways to eliminate this injustice. Presently our Vincentian volunteers are spread throughout Peterborough in 5 different conferences, each one operating in isolation of the others. This results in duplication of services which is ripe for abuse and a less productive use of our diminishing volunteer hours. A dynamic synergy will be realized from the new Community Centre resulting in a much improved community advocacy. The interaction of our 5 city conferences will produce a much greater advocacy result than the sum of their individual effects. Cooperative interaction among groups always creates an enhanced combined effect. The Centre would also provide us with a location where we can meet and to unite with other like minded organizations in the pursuit of whatever advocacy issues are on our agenda. But even more importantly, with a new Community Centre, our Society will have a much greater community visibility, and, this high profile visibility will greatly help in the recruitment of many new members.

In conclusion, while maintaining the present administration of the 5 separate city conferences, the new centre will have facilities to allow all volunteers, from all conferences, to more effectively work at helping the needy. Meeting space will accommodate training and foster motivation among these volunteers. This centre will help in the development of one large Vincentian family, uniting all our Vincentian volunteers in the service of the poor and needy. A much greater synergy will result from this large Vincentian family than is presently possible. The Centre will allow the Society to unite with other organizations to more effectively pursue like minded advocacy issues. This dignified and caring atmosphere, provided by the new centre, will help to improve the interactions experienced by staff, volunteers and our friends in need.

First Annual Our Friends In Need Walk Will Help Neighbors in Need
Walk A Mile In My Shoes

What happens when you need a friend and there's no one there? Having no one to turn to in a moment of need is a trying experience for anyone, but especially for the poor.

For nearly two centuries, the poor and needy of the world have found a friend in the
Society of St. Vincent de Paul. In the summer of 201X the Society' s Peterborough Particular Council will hold its first annual Our Friends In Need Walk to celebrate service to the poor, and to encourage kindhearted citizens to become friends of Our Friends In Need, too. Pledges made on behalf of registered walkers will benefit those most in need in our own communities.

The Peterborough Particular Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul encourages all Peterborough and Lindsay citizens to participate in the Our Friends In Need Walk -- as walkers, pledgers, volunteers, or all three. To register as a walker, to pledge support for a walker, to volunteer, or for more information, contact anyone of our six Conferences or call 705-742-2585.

"The people of Peterborough and Lindsay have always been generous in their support of the Society," said Council President Sue Mazzioti-Armitage. Sue believes the Our Friends In Need Walk will be a fun way for them to continue their support, to get others to join in the spirit of giving, and to show the poor in our community that we really do care about them. So come on out, walk a mile in someone else's shoes, and become a friend of the poor. Find out how good it feels to give.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 and today is the largest lay Catholic charitable organization in the world. Known and loved for its thrift stores and food pantries and the personal visits of its members to the homes of the poor, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, the Society today has close to a million members operating in 142 countries. The Society's Canadian members donated many thousands of hours of their personal time in 2009, aiding their neighbors in distress and offering services valued at hundreds of thousands dollars.

Discarded To Devine

At the St. Vincent de Paul Society, we strive to serve the needy who come through our doors with dignity and respect, no matter where they stand in their life's journey. We work with them one-on-one to help them in so many ways, so they can begin to transform their lives.

Seeing this work in action transforms many who volunteer for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. People they may have perceived as scary or threatening are in fact neither. They are simply people in need of a safe place to sleep, a hot meal, clean clothes and someone who cares. They are people grateful for kindness and the simple things many of us take for granted every day.

For many volunteers and staff, helping these poor and needy people deeply impacts their personal outlook and spirituality. The act of recycling donated clothing has the power to renew lives-not only for those helped, but for those helping them.

Every day while sifting through a pile of donated clothing our Thrift store employees and volunteers have to decide how to recycle the growing pile of unusable, torn or stained items that can not be used in our store.

Can these discarded garments be transformed into something renewed and useful?

Is it not possible that out of that pile of unusable donated clothing, with help from local fashion designers and an outstanding team of visionary volunteers, Discarded to Divine can be created.

This group of people will create their vision of couture fashion using whatever they need from the unusable clothing. Their designs will be submitted and an outstanding group of judges will pick winners in various categories. All participants as well as the winners will be introduced at the Society's first annual fashion show and auction of one-of-a-kind couture event to be held in the fall of 201X.

Please join us for the St. Vincent De Paul Society's first annual fashion show and auction of one-of-a-kind couture event made from discarded clothing, to benefit the poor and homeless.

Come explore the creative vision of local area designers who have harnessed their talents to help the needy. Enjoy coctails and hors d'oeuvores from some of our finest local restaurants. Join the bidding fun at the silent and live auctions, and devote this evening to eco-friendly fashion for a good cause.

For tickets to this gala Discarded To Devine fashion show and auction call 705-742-2585.