The Shawano St. Vincent de Paul Society does a lot of work behind the scenes in Shawano County by helping people with their rent, food, utilities, furniture and various other necessities.
“There’s such a need in town,” said Linda Koeller, president of the group. “We could really use a homeless shelter.”
The group has an office at the Shawano Area Food Pantry and Resource Center. On Tuesday mornings members meet with people who have come to them either through the food pantry or, most often, word of mouth. Although it is a Catholic charity, anyone is welcome.
Koeller said Tuesday mornings are very busy.
“You feel like you’re not doing enough,” she said. “There’s so much more we could do with more members.”
The society helps people as much as they can with money and household items. They get funds from collections at church, working at the Little Red Barn, where Catholic Financial matches up to $500, and the Green Bay Diocese. One parish family donates every month.
Once a month, the members work at the spacious St. Vincent de Paul Store in Green Bay, where they sort and break down donated items.
“Because we get money from them, we contribute,” Koeller said.
Members also work at the counter there three or four times a year on a Saturday morning. It has been easier to work the cash register there because now almost everything has UPC codes, Koeller noted.
This year is the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Fredric Ozanam, the founder of St. Vincent de Paul, whose mission was to help the needy and suffering. The patron saint is St. Vincent de Paul, who was known as the Apostle of Charity and Father of the Poor.
The Vincentians have an International Council in Paris, France, which serves 149 countries on five continents. The USA National Council is based in St. Louis and has 141,112 members.
Other local officers are Betty Weber, vice president and secretary, and Richard Raflik, treasurer.
They meet at 1 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at the Sacred Heart Center.
On Monday and Tuesday, society members will again be working at the Little Red Barn at Charlie’s County Market.
For more information or to make an appointment, call 715-524-5863.
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