Florida Catholic | St. Vincent de Paul Society

Honoring patron with posters, doughnuts, blood drive

PEGGY DEKEYSER | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PENSACOLA-TALLAHASSEE BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 10.19.07

Vincentian Connie Roche assists parishioner Tom Brown into the Northwest Florida Blood Center van at Holy Spirit Parish in Pensacola Oct. 7. The parish’s St. Vincent de Paul conference sponsored the blood drive which garnered more than 90 blood donors in a four-hour period surrounding morning Masses at the parish.
PEGGY DEKEYSER | FC

PENSACOLA |The St. Vincent de Paul conference at Holy Spirit Parish was looking for a unique way to honor the founder of the charitable society, Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, whose feast day is celebrated Sept. 9.

Member Liz Senkus said members wanted to find a way to honor the holy man while also accomplishing the goals of the charity. "We decided to put together a display about the work we do, the people we help, along with membership information, and invite people to stop in after Mass for coffee and doughnuts to learn more about Vincentians. We saw an opportunity to connect this with our second annual blood drive," she said. The campaign spread out over two weeks, during which the conference enrolled a dozen new members. The Oct. 7 blood drive which concluded the event drew more than 60 donors.

Senkus and other Vincentians staffed a table in the narthex of the church after all Masses for several weeks prior to the event, recruiting and scheduling blood donors. "That's the key," she said. "It takes a dedicated effort to sign up the donors. We're so grateful to all our parishioners who agreed to give of themselves to help others."

Parishioner Rosemary Mead stopped to view the display and commented that while she knew that the Vincentians were always busy helping someone, she "had no idea just how very much they actually do. It's wonderful that they're able to help so many people."

The St. Vincent de Paul Society was formed at the Sorbonne, University of Paris in 1833 after a student challenged Blessed Frederic Ozanam, saying that the church had done much good work in the past but "What do you do now?" The response was to form the Conference of Charity to help the poor. On Blessed Frederic's 20th birthday, six students chose a layman, Emmanuel Bailly, as president, and selected St. Vincent de Paul as their patron. Soon after, they changed the conference's name to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Parish branches of the society are called conferences. At the diocesan level, the assembly of conferences is called a council. Each conference determines how it can best help the poor. Some operate thrift stores or food banks, some provide prescription assistance, some participate with Catholic Charities to mentor poor families to help them break the cycle of poverty.

Martha Desposito has just completed her term as council president. A member of Holy Spirit, she said that conducting a blood drive, while it might sound unusual for a charity, is perfectly consistent with the mission of the society, which is to "serve those who are in need, seeking to see the face of Christ in each person."

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Honoring patron with posters, doughnuts, blood drive

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