Feeding Hungry People Through Charity and Mercy
By JOHN O'FLYNN
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GIVING BACK
The group, they're cold and hungry,
They line up down the street.
Patiently they wait
For something hot to eat.
Many lost and lonely souls,
All in need of love.
I'm sure the help they need
Could come from up above.
The only difference
between them and me,
Of this I'm extremely aware:
The decision to pick up a pipe,
Now, that would bring me there.
For years, while going nowhere,
These food_lines helped me survive.
But the love I felt from these people
Was what really kept me alive.
- Andreas
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VANCOUVER - The poem on the right was recently given to one of the volunteers of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Outreach Ministry in downtown Vancouver by a poet named Andreas. His words are in thanks for all the good works he has observed over the years in his neighbourhood.
Twice a week the Outreach truck of the Society delivers coffee and sandwiches to the people of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver in the evening. Volunteers assist in driving the truck, sandwich-making and coordinating donated resources to make this ministry possible.
The Value Shoppe at Twelfth and Main in Vancouver is the Society's central site for receiving and dispensing donated clothes, furniture and other items. More than 200 volunteers, represented by 30 parish conferences, also operate a food bank from the site and hand out dry packaged food along with fresh bread.
The Society also operates a help line for those who call in need of assistance. Representatives of local conferences meet with the callers to assess their particular needs.
Frederic Ozanam, a French national born in Italy, founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society in 1833 at the age of 20. Ozanam later went on to become a professor at Fairborn University in Paris. When the Great Famine in Ireland was at its worst, Frederic Ozanam raised £5,000 in France to take to Ireland to feed the victims.
Today the Society is a pillar of charitable activity and assists the poor and underprivileged in 140 countries throughout the world. In Canada alone, there are about 10,000 members of various denominations.
If you are looking for an opportunity to assist in any capacity, whether driving or sandwich- making, you are invited to leave a message at (604) 873-1003 or e_mail oflynn@oflynn.ca.
MEMBERS OF THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL Society Outreach Program standing beside the St. Vincent de Paul truck. They use the truck to transport the sandwiches and coffee to the homeless in downtown Vancouver. John O'Flynn; Sheila Coutu; Doreen Badgero; Bill Yule; Rosemarie Yule; Tom O'Flynn; Brian Bileski and Tom Butler.
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VOLUNTEERS with the St. Vincent de Paul Society making sandwiches to feed the homeless in downtown Vancouver. (L-R) Charles Paguao; Mary Clohosey; Anthoney Deguzman and Peter Shatz.
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