The St. Vincent de Paul School Supply Drive: Faith Family Works Together for Good of Wider Community

Stewardship within our parish is incredibly important for building the faith community that is vital to our walk with Christ. Along with caring for those within our community, we have to take the opportunities to care for those in the wider community. By doing this, we are caring for the sick, hungry, naked and imprisoned — just as Jesus called us to do. This is also a wonderful opportunity to evangelize and share the love of Christ with those outside of our community.

The mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, or SVdP, aims to do just that. By reaching out to others who are in crisis or in need of essentials for living, members are caring for the poor in very tangible ways. They invite the parish into their ministry in many ways, including the School Supply Drive for those in need in the surrounding communities. Though we are currently on summer break, many parents are already preparing for and worrying about what their children will need for their next school year.

“We recognize how difficult it can be for people to get supplies," says Cindy Vinal, coordinator for this event. "Sometimes, these supply lists are enormous. They don’t just include pencils, notebooks and crayons. They also need to provide tissues, disinfectant wipes and dry erase markers. You can easily spend $50 to $75 per child. Our neighbors can’t always afford that and parents worry about sending their children to school only to be embarrassed because they don’t have what they need. So this is one way that we can help them. We ask them for the name of their children’s school and their grade. We track down the supply lists and go through to figure out what each child needs.”

There are several ways that the parish helps provide the children with their needed supplies. Some parishioners will“adopt” a particular child and fill the needs of that child’s school supply list. Other parishioners will bring in items to donate, which are then given out to students in need. Some will bring in gift cards and the members of the SVdP will use them to purchase needed supplies.

“Our parishioners are remarkably generous and this event is so successful that we have so much more than we need for just our clients," Cindy says. "Our leftover supplies are given to Santa Maria Mission in North Tampa. We also reach out to several schools within our boundaries to see what needs they have that we can fill."

"We have another parishioner who is a special education teacher at a local school and she gives us a wish list of things that we can help provide her students with," she adds. "In other situations, we have provided specific classes with special notebooks that the students need, as a way to take some of the burden off of the parents."

Parishioners are notified of the timing of the School Supply Drive through the bulletin or emails. The drive usually takes place sometime in August, depending on the start date of school. Tables are set up in the narthex to collect the donated items.

“It all comes back to stewardship," Cindy says. "We are responsible for each other. As a parish, we are not an island — we are a part of the larger community. We try to take care of those in our parish first and then expand from there. But it really comes down to the fact that our parishioners are so generous that we are able to care for so many in our community. We are able to provide supplies for hundreds of students."

"It is incredible to see those who are blessed with excess share so much with those who have less," she adds. "We have found within the St. Vincent de Paul Society that the more we give, the more we receive and it is a blessing to be a part of that."

Please watch the bulletin for more information regarding dates for the School Supply Drive.