St. Vincent de Paul Volunteers:
A Very Special Group of People
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AT THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL'S barbeque are: (L-R) FRONT: Paul Nemersky (St. Jude's, Vancouver); John Kane (Main Street store driver); Rose Morin (St. Stephen's, North Vancouver); Sheila Coutu (BC SSVP Treasurer); Thomas O'Flynn (BC SSVP President). BACK: Floyd Morin (St. Stephen's, North Vancouver); Benny Nemersky (St. Jude's, Vancouver); Anselmo Ochoca (Hastings Street store manager); Stella Gaudet (St. Patrick's, Vancouver); Bill Yule (Vancouver SSVP President); Tom Lipp (St. Patrick's, Vancouver) and Ivan Douglas (St. Patrick's, Vancouver).
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By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - The St. Vincent de Paul Society held their annual summer barbeque on July 22. For the past number of years the barbeques have been held at the home of Thomas (Tom) O'Flynn, who is the B.C. Provincial Council President and is also on the board of directors for the National Council of Canada for the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
Tom puts up tents, tables with umbrellas and chairs in his back garden, which provides a lovely setting for the barbeque.
Generally the weather is scorching hot at the time of the barbeque, but this year it was not to be. It was another of those iffy weekends with cool and wet weather, but it would take more than a little rain to dampen the enthusiasm and dedication of these special volunteers.
St. Vincent de Paul volunteers are indeed a special group of dedicated people who give of their time, talent, and energy to help feed the homeless and the less fortunate in our society.
Some of the volunteers also work at the St. Vincent de Paul Value Shops, where items are donated so that they can be sold and used as a source of revenue to help the poor. Other volunteers make sandwiches and coffee, which is distributed to the homeless in the downtown area of Vancouver. Still others drive the St. Vincent de Paul truck to pick-up donations and deliver sandwiches to the needy.
When this friendly and lively group finally get-together, they all pitch-in to help out. For the past few years, Sheila Coutu, the past Vancouver Archdiocesan Central Council President has provided hand-picked, delicious homemade berry pies which everyone enjoys with ice-cream.
Throughout the year, Sheila also collects and puts together prizes for the annual barbeque and Christmas party for the volunteers. Long-time volunteers, Ivan Douglas and Wally Coleman, do a great job of barbequing and serving up sizzling steaks and burgers.
The Saint Vincent de Paul Society is still very much in need of more volunteers, particularly at their East Hastings store. If you have any time to spare throughout the week....a day, a couple of hours, please call: (604) 873-1003, (604) 873-1065, or the help line at (604) 873-2297 and leave a message for Sheila.
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