St. Vincent de Paul Society
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Saint Thomas Aquinas Conference of
the Saint Vincent de Paul Society
The Saint Vincent de Paul Society (SVDP) is an international Catholic organization devoted to caring for the poor that was founded in Paris in 1833 by Blessed Frederick Ozanam. The society has 22 conferences in Santa Clara County. The Saint Thomas Aquinas conference was founded in 1966.
Our Services
The Palo Alto Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul assists in processing requests for rent and utility assistance and provides other emergency help to families and individuals in need. SVDP weekly provides help with food, and with grocery gift cards to unhoused and other low-income neighbors at the parish door (Note: each person can come only once a month).
Food is obtained through our annual November Food Drive, from Second Harvest food bank and through other donations from parishioners. Now that we are beginning to directly connect with families for emergency help, we also deliver resources directly to the homes of our requesting neighbors. For unhoused and low-income neighbors, we provide assistance at the Parish Center.
Further, we provide vouchers for use at St. Vincent de Paul San Mateo County thrift stores. Information about the thrift stores can be found at this link - https://svdpsm.org/programs/thrift-stores/shop-svdp-stores/, and more information about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Santa Clara County in general can be found here - https://www.svdp.org/
Here are some statistics about the services our conference provided
during our 2021 fiscal year Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30,2021:- We provided rental and utility assistance for about $50,000
- We delivered food, gift cards and other emergency assistance with a value of about $20,000
- In total we helped 531 Palo Alto families and singles (helping 1,062 people), with money raised in parish collections, parishioner donations and with co-pays from other conferences in Santa Clara County.
We provide service to all neighbors in need regardless of race, religion or other factors. Our only requirement is that the need is real and that the people we help live within the parish boundaries.
How to Reach Us
Persons needing help come to the Pastoral Center located at 3290 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto on Wednesdays from 3pm to 5pm. Persons in need can call the help line 650-424-8155 at any time and leave a message. Your call will be returned and we will try to help as soon as volunteers are available.How to Support Us
We are supported by the generous donations of Saint Thomas Aquinas parishioners. Our recurring source of funding are the second collections, which occur 8 times per year. Please be generous and thank you in advance. We also are fortunate to receive year-end and other one-time donations, which can be mailed to or dropped off at the parish office. Parishioners making their regular donations online through the parish’s online giving portal - https://giving.parishsoft.com/App/Giving/PS-357 – can select to fund St. Vincent de Paul there for donations to our Society. Finally, we have received bequests through the estates of our parishioners and from families asking that donations be made to us on behalf of deceased family members.
Needless to say, all manners of support are welcome. Donors can be assured that their gifts will be put to good use. As noted below, we are a volunteer-run operation and have virtually no overhead.Join Us!
The Saint Thomas Aquinas St. Vincent de Paul Society is entirely staffed by volunteers. Our volunteers consistently find this work to be among the most fulfilling things that they do. Some have been at it for years, but we have some recent volunteers as well. Volunteers are free to select the times at which they can assist us, so this is not a burdensome commitment. The most compelling need is for new volunteers that can assist experienced members in home visits to learn about emergency needs, to pray with and listen to our neighbors. We also hope to meet people at the Parish office door more than one time per week as we get more volunteers.
Finally, we also need volunteer assistance to collect, sort, pack and store food in our pantry as well as to help us keep track of our finances and gift cards. If anyone is interested in finding out more about this rewarding service opportunity, please call Gerard Vurens (cell: 408-859-2264), or strike up a conversation with Anne Fillin or anyone you know who is involved with our conference.