Vincent Place

St. Mary’s Student Council once again helps Vincent Place’s Food Bank, with 1500 cans of food for the needy. This Food Drive has become an annual event and Vincent Place is most thankful! Beatrice our Food Services Coordinator is quoted as saying “The generosity of these young individuals is insipiring” Thank you St. Mary’s your kind donations will help to feed the most needy! As well as the canned goods a cheque of $128.75 was also donated.

Vincent Place would like to thank Allstate for its kind donation of $250 to our organization.  We would also like to thank Heather Wellings, one of our dedicated volunteers, for informing the Allstate Foundation of Canada about the need of Vincent Place.

How wonderful it is when a local company decides to help out a local charity.

Vincent Place is so grateful to Don Muio and his staff at Cross Country Canada. The local company presented us with a check for our food bank worth $2000.

It’s summertime and the living is easy.

We should all enjoy these months with friends and family. The list of summer activities is endless and quite often the most enjoyable times are when we do nothing at all.

There is a downside to all this rest and relaxation. We sometimes forget our social responsibilities.

Blood banks often find it more difficult to attract donors in the summer months. Also, as we read recently, the cupboards are getting very bare at Vincent Place, forcing the kitchen to cut back how much food it can give the hungry.

Anyone needing help now has to wait three months, instead of two, for a food order from the Catholic lay organization that includes two cups each of flour, oatmeal and pancake mix, reported Brian Kelly.

The drop in food donations is exacerbated by a recent theft at the Thrift Shop.

“We’re needing some outside assistance,” said public relations co-ordinator Cassie Baxter.

“I don’t know where our clients are going to go. It breaks my heart. It really does,” said Fran Baker, food services coordinator for Vincent Place.

Poverty doesn’t take a vacation. We must remember that fighting poverty is a year-round mission.

In 2007, 5,405 people were helped by Vincent Place. More than a third of that number were children.

Donations of cash or food can be dropped off Monday to Friday between 9 a. m. and 4 p. m. at the Albert Street East site.

Donations can also be made online through CanadaHelps.org website. This site is registered as a Non Profit Organization for the purpose of transferring online donations to Vincent Place (or other Charities). All transactions are secure.

Vincent Place just finished participating in the annual Community Days parade. This year, the theme of the parade was, “Your Community.”

We had a hard time deciding on what design we would go with, but in the end we decided that what we wanted to ultimately do, was to promote not just Vincent Place but all the agencies that work together to help those in need. Our theme for our float was, “Our Community Working Together.”

With a lot of work and a lot of help from businesses and the residents of the shelter, we were able to get the float done – and it looked great! Check out the pictures and see for yourself.

Special thanks goes to Dan from Construction Equipment for donating his flatbed, and donating his time to drive the truck. And Al Pyette from Show Stoppers, who lent us many items to use on the float. Also, a thanks goes out to: White Oak Paints, Colour Your World, Stone’s Office Supply and H&S Outdoor Equipment for all their generous donations.

A HUGE THANKS goes out to the residents of the shelter who worked very hard and with no complaints. You guys are the best!

The Back of the float

*More pictures in our Photo Gallery

Due to unexpected low levels of cash and food donations we are temporarily out of money to purchase food for the Food Bank.

The food that we have on hand is rapidly diminishing. It is hoped that this situation will be alleviated by September however until then we will likely be unable to keep the food bank open without outside assistance.

We are asking anyone who can donate cases or cans of the following items:

kraft dinner, canned vegetables, canned soups, pasta sauce, pasta, peanut butter, cereal, rice, canned tomatoes, pork and beans, packaged juice, coffee, tea, margarine, tuna, snacks for children, etc.

You can also make a cash donation towards the food bank either by mail or online. Income tax receipt is available to those who request it. If you donate through CanadaHelps.org you can print out your receipt immediately.

Food donations can be dropped off at Vincent Place between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays or to the the Food Bank on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturdays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Thank you so much for your consideration in this matter.

Fran Barker – Food Services Coordinator

The planning of the food drive is taking shape. The drive will take place the same time as last year from September 25th to October 5th. Walmart, No Frills and Rome’s are participating again this year and there might be a few other businesses who may be participating.

More information will be forthcoming.

Some Greyhound players helping us at Vincent Place

There are a lot of poor people in our Community that can’t afford a meal throughout the week because they don’t have enough money to buy food for them self or their family. Some are faced with unexpected expenses due to sickness or other hardships which creates this lack of money. Local organizations or individual groups donate their time at Vincent Place once a week to provide a full hot meal at no cost. The day that our organization cook for these people gives us a heartwarming feeling when we see the smiles on their faces as they enjoy a good cooked meal. Our Council is proud to be part of teams of cooks, dishwashers, servers, peelers, salad makers and ambassadors taking a day to provide a meal. We normally cook every six weeks to provide this charitable service. We have averaged from 150 to 220 meals on our week of cooking. To date the soup kitchen is opened on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Other Community or Church Groups are encouraged to volunteer their time. If more groups become available then Vincent Place could have another night to serve meals. If your Church Group, or Organization is interested in volunteering, contact Vincent Place at 253-2770.