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“Give To Lincoln Day” Vital For St. Vincent DePaul Society’s Work
Christ encourages us to find Him in disguise when we follow His Corporal Works of Mercy. We are asked, among other practices, to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and give alms to the poor. Here at St. Peter Parish, we can find and serve Christ by contributing to the St. Vincent dePaul Society (SVdP), and especially during the “Give to Lincoln Day” sponsored by the Lincoln Community Foundation.
St. Peter Parish is one of 12 parish members of the Lincoln Council of St. Vincent dePaul. Each parish has a St. Vincent dePaul Society conference — Larry Ellerbeck serves as Vice President of the Council and Mike Riordan is our conference President.
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“Give to Lincoln Day” is set for May 7 through May 25, when donors can go online at www.lcf.org to contribute to the non-profit of their choice. The Lincoln SVdP Council is among the non-profits and will get a proportional share of the contributions from a matching fund overseen by the foundation. This particular event is one of the Society’s biggest fundraisers.
To put the funds we give in perspective, our contributions to the St. Vincent dePaul Society helped about 1,000 families in need during 2020.
“We have a call center on N. 38th Street and in 2020 we had a total of 2,098 calls,” Larry says. “About 40-50 percent of the help went to rent and utilities, and that is only a portion of what we provide.”
The Society, in normal times, provides “boots on the ground” help by taking food and other help to callers’ homes. The Society works with Catholic Social Services to provide items, such as furniture, or whatever the callers’ needs are. There are also occasions when the Society partners with the Salvation Army or the Community Action Council to meet needs.
“We work with Catholic Social Services to provide food,” Larry says. “They have a pantry, and our volunteers can access it to get baskets of food whenever it is needed.”
Contributions that we make to the Society here at St. Peter all help with these needs, but sometimes additional funds are needed.
“That’s why this ‘Give to Lincoln Day’ is an important fundraiser,” Larry says.
Not only does donating to “Give to Lincoln Day” help the St. Vincent dePaul Society’s work, but it also is an opportunity to live in stewardship.
“Stewardship has always been the case for the St. Vincent dePaul Society,” Larry says. “The intention of the donations or what we do also fulfills our Godly needs and helps the poor.”
