Anna, 18, and Jonathan, 8, come to our Family Evening Meal for nourishing dinners each night.

Anna and Jonathan F. come to St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Evening Meal with their mother and siblings each night. Between work and school

schedules, dinner is the only time that their family sits down for a meal together to catch up and talk. When they arrive, they are seated together at one table and served by loving volunteers. In addition to hot meals, there is always a salad bar with fresh fruits and vegetables.
“This is a place where we can come enjoy a good dinner,” says Anna. “It really helps a lot because we don’t have enough to eat at home.”
St. Vincent de Paul’s central kitchen prepares more than 3,000 meals every morning for our five dining rooms across the valley.

Help us provide meals for hungry families this holiday season!

Thanks to many of our partners, there are various food drives this year across the state.

KNIX Million Can Crusade: Now – Nov. 23
Join Ben and Matt’s 2011 Million Can Crusade! The event kicked off with a special operation to rescue Barrel Boy, who was suspended over 100 feet in midair and lowered as donations came in. Did we succeed? Or is he still up there? Check out photos here. Support SVdP and donate at Safeway stores, Desert Schools Credit Unions or online.

Bickley and MJ Turkey Drive: Now – Dec. 26
Bickley and MJ’s Annual Turkey Drive is back presented by TruWest Credit Union! Go to one of the sponsoring Walmart stores to donate canned goods and turkeys.
Come see the guys from 2pm-6pm at these Walmart locations on these days to participate:

• Monday, November 21 at 18551 N. 83rd Ave in Glendale
• Tuesday, November 22 at 1380 W. Elliot Rd. in Tempe
• Wednesday, November 23 at 15355 N Northsight Blvd in Scottsdale

Fry’s Annual Holiday Food Drive: Now – Dec. 31
Make donations to SVdP and other food banks at check out. Just a few dollars will help provide hot meals and nonperishable foods to struggling families.

12 News and Bashas’ Turkey Tuesday: Nov. 22
Arizona’s largest one-day turkey drive will be Tuesday, Nov. 22 this year. In addition to 12 news and Bashas’, Mix 96.9’s Ron Price and Bryan Allen will joining the challenge this year. Whose side will you be on? Ron Price and Bruce Cooper at Bashas’ in the east valley, or Bryan Allen and Jimmy Q at Food City in the west valley? Donate at any Bashas’ or Food City store on Turkey Tuesday to help your favorite TV-Radio duo win!

Life Time Fitness Turkey Day 5K: Nov. 24
Take over downtown with the Life Time Fitness Turkey Day 5K! Bring a can of food to support SVdP. Register for the event here.

Kraft and Safeway’s Huddle to Fight Hunger: Nov. 16 – Dec. 24
Purchase prepackaged food bags for hungry families at Safeway! Each bag includes pantry staples canned fruits, vegetables, pasta and macaroni and cheese.

Phillip Tirone, who writes a blog on personal growth, volunteered last Monday in one of the St. Vincent dining rooms. He brought an idea we’ve never tried before — name tags for our homeless guests. Phillip writes about his experience, excerpted below, in his blog.

call me by my name

Remember to call me by my name

by Phillip Tirone

On Monday, I had an experience that changed my life.

I’ve been volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelter, which serves thousands of homeless people per week. On the first day I volunteered, I went home feeling really haunted. Homeless people don’t feel like they have dignity. They feel invisible.

And the hard-to-admit truth is …

When I see homeless people on the street, I ignore them. I don’t think I’m alone in this. We ignore homeless people. We try not to look at them. We certainly don’t ask them their names.

It’s almost too sad to think about.

But The Checklist Manifesto inspired me to do something really simple. On Monday, I brought a big bag of nametags to St. Vincent de Paul. As people arrived for their meal, I asked them their names so I could give them nametags.

I handed out 427 nametags last Monday.

Some people didn’t want them, but about 80 percent did. In fact, at times people waited in line for a nametag, even though the food line was empty!

When I spelled a name wrong, some would say, “Don’t worry about it.”

I responded the same way every time: “No, I’m going to get it right; your name is important to me.”

Tears welled up in two people’s eyes. Both times, as these people walked away, my eyes filled with tears as well.

We instructed all the volunteers to start calling people by their first name, and afterward, the executive director, Steve Zabilski, said to me: “I’ve called more people by their first name today than I have in the last 10 years of working here.”

The badges gave them back their names. It gave them an identity, and it gave them some dignity.

And the nametags served as a checklist: Remember, these are people with hearts that feel the pain of life, just like I do.

asking for spare change

First, do no harm

Dealing with panhandlers across the Valley may be a daily dilemma for some of us.  You want to show compassion and empathy for the plight of the homeless, but you’re just not sure that those two extra dollars in your wallet will fill the bill and make a significant difference in someone’s life, or that they’ll be used for a productive purpose.

The Need a Hand card is a better way to help a homeless person who is asking you for cash.   Instead of handing out cash, this wallet-sized card lists the addresses and serving times of our five Phoenix Metro-area dining rooms. The reverse of the card lists the services available to the homeless through St. Vincent de Paul’s Special Works Ministries located at our main Watkins Campus.

A local bus day pass is attached to the card to help the individual make the trip to St. Vincent de Paul for assistance, return to where they were staying and make any other bus trips needed that day. Cards are sold in packs of four for $10. This amount covers the cost of the bus tickets, and what remains can help defray some of the costs of providing the services being accessed.

The idea is that, instead of giving someone cash, you can help them get to the assistance they may really need to change their lives.

Need A Hand? Come See Us.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul offers meaningful help for the homeless and working poor of central and northern Arizona. With more than 90 cents of every donated dollar going directly to fund food programs and other services for the poor, St. Vincent de Paul provides a hopeful alternative to those who need it most. With a powerhouse food bank and one of the largest industrial kitchens in the state, St. Vincent de Paul provides more than 1.1 million hot meals to the homeless and working poor each year; and the need continues to grow.

With the help of skilled and caring volunteers, St. Vincent de Paul serves 110 homeless individuals each day, providing showers, clothing and haircuts, bikes and bus tickets, job leads, mentoring, post-incarceration assistance, and case management to inspire our clients to make real change in their lives.

Through these professionally-run programs, St. Vincent de Paul helps the homeless work their way back to self-sufficiency by providing a hand up and not just a handout.

call (602) 261-6808 to order a packet of four Need A Hand cards to carry in your wallet, purse, or glove compartment.

You can also donate online today.

Stay in touch. Sign up to receive the SVdP monlthy e_Newsletter.

Media Contact: Mary Chou-Thompson, St. Vincent de Paul, 602-339-5902, mthompson@svdp-phx-az.org

PHOENIX (Nov.17, 2010) – Members of the Modified Motorcycle Association of Arizona will deliver hundreds of turkeys strapped to the back of their motorcycles for “Birds on Bikes” on Sunday, November 21. All of the turkeys will go to feed hungry families this holiday season. Last year’s event drew more than 400 bikers who met at various locations throughout the valley and rode into St. Vincent de Paul’s downtown campus together. After the bikers arrive, they will enjoy live music, lunch and tour the St. Vincent de Paul campus.

WHAT:          Modified Motorcycle Associations’ Annual “Birds on Bikes”

WHEN:         Sunday, November 21; 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

WHERE: St. Vincent de Paul’s downtown campus, 420 W. Watkins Road, Phoenix 85002

About the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international non-profit organization dedicated to serving the poor and providing others with the opportunity to serve. The Phoenix Diocesan Council has been assisting central and northern Arizona families since 1946. Programs include services for the homeless, medical and dental care for the working poor, charity dining rooms, thrift stores, a transitional housing shelter and general assistance for individuals in need. For more information about St. Vincent de Paul, please visit www.stvincentdepaul.net.

# # #

The nation’s largest one-day turkey drive is coming!

Now in its 17th year, 12 News Turkey Tuesday – in partnership with Bashas’, Food City and KTAR – has become a Thanksgiving tradition for many Arizona families, schools and businesses.

On Turkey Tuesday, November 23, you are invited to donate food – a frozen turkey or make a monetary donation at any Bashas’ or Food City locations. All donations will benefit hungry families just in time for Thanksgiving. 

Thanks to you, we collected 27,605 turkeys, which fed thousands of local, needy families last year. Can we count on you to help us break the record this year?

Turkey Challenge

Join your favorite 12 news anchors, radio station personalities and Basha family members on Turkey Tuesday for an official “Turkey Challenge,” from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at these two store locations:

• Bashas‘, 4940 S. Gilbert Rd. (Chandler Heights & Gilbert Road), Chandler, 85249 
• Food City, 845 W. Southern Ave. (7th Ave. & Southern), Phoenix, 85041

During the “Turkey Challenge,” 12 News Sports Anchor Bruce Cooper and Weather Anchor James Quiñones will compete against one another to see who can collect the most turkeys for St. Vincent de Paul. KTAR personalities Gambo & Ash and Mac & Gaydos will join the challenge, broadcasting live throughout the day.

Weather Anchor James Quiñones will be at the Food City location while Sports Anchor Bruce Cooper will be at Bashas’.

Who will collect more turkeys for St. Vincent de Paul? Those turkey donations depend on YOU. So mark your calendars, and join the challenge!

svdpx0

The average teenager sends over 3,000 text messages per month. That’s more than 100 a day.

Make your next text message count. This holiday season, you can make a one-time $5 donation to St. Vincent de Paul (charged to your cell phone bill) by texting the word HOPE to 52000. In 30 seconds you can feed a family of four. Think of it as fast food that’s good for you.

For more information about how St. Vincent de Paul feeds families, visit http://www.stvincentdepaul.net, find us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/stvincentdepaulphx, or on youtube at  http://www.youtube.com/stvincentdepaulphx. To help more families paste this url – www.svdp-phx.org/fast-food.html – into an email to several friends or on your facebook profile. Together we can feed thousands of needy families this holiday season…and that’s good for all of us!

St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Evening Meal serves hot meals to working poor families, who can stretch their food budget, enjoy family time together, have a chance to take the kids “out for dinner”, and enjoy a safe and stimulating environment created by many helpful and caring volunteers. Thousands of meals are served and dozens of activities are conducted in this energy-filled room.

Volunteers come forward to lead wonderful projects and activities with kids and parents, using their own professional or artistic skills, such as science teachers doing fun experiments for kids, or chefs teaching parents how to create great meals on a budget.

The guests who eat in our dining room are working poor families with young children. One or both parents typically has a low-wage job with no health insurance, and their budgets are stretched to the limit and beyond. Even those whose budgets “pencil out” are just one medical bill or car breakdown from an eviction.

Having a social worker present each night in the dining room, supported by trained volunteers, allows us to intervene at critical times with direct assistance for rent after a crisis, literally keeping families from becoming homeless.

For families needing more long term support, we are able to identify the needs of dining room guests, provide emotional support and follow up, and make appropriate referrals to other services offered right in our building, such as our free medical and dental clinic, English and computer classes, budgeting classes, and job development program.

For more information or to volunteer contact Allison at aghan@svdp-phx-az.org or Marisa at mmartinez@svdp-phx-az.org.

Are you looking for that special gift for that special someone? What about a gift that keeps on giving? Think about Flowers that Feed. This is a meaningful gift to give a loved one or a special someone and at the same time donate food by helping Phoenix area children and families receive nourishing hot meals in one of St. Vincent de Paul’s five charity dining rooms.

Flowers that Feed Roses card

With each donation of $25 (Sunflowers), $50 (Tulips) or $100 (Roses), you will receive a beautiful, custom-designed Bertica Garcia-Dubus gift card to tell your friends and family that you’ve honored them with the gift of hope. Each card is inscribed with the number of meals your donation provides, so the recipient will know how much they are helping struggling families.

A Sunflowers purchase provides one week of nourishing meals in our charity dining rooms for a family of four. ($25)

A Tulips purchase provides two weeks of nourishing meals in our charity dining rooms for a family of four. ($50)

A Roses purchase provides a month of nourishing meals in our charity dining rooms for a family of four. ($100)

Visit the St. Vincent de Paul website for more information on Flowers That Feed.

Part of President Obama’s millions of dollars in stimulus money that was set aside for companies to go green with renewable energy projects was recently put to use for St. Vincent de Paul Phoenix. In May, Governor Jan Brewer announced that 14 Arizona non-profits were going to get some of the money and one of the 14 recipients was St. Vincent de Paul. SVdP received almost $50, 000 to install energy efficient lighting. Crews installed skylights into the warehouse and this upgrade will save big on energy costs. The skylights will save more than $1,000 a month simply in energy costs alone.

The energy cost savings means a lot for those who benefit from the support of St. Vincent de Paul. It means there is more money for food. There is more money to help people with their utilities bills and with their rent bills to keep them from becoming homeless. And there is more money for the medical clinic.

On Tuesday  July 20, community leaders, students, and local celebrities will assemble more than 3,000 burritos in just three hours to feed hungry families that evening at the St. Vincent de Paul charity dining room on our main campus.

If you stop in and buy a burrito at La Tolteca that day, another burrito will be added to that total.  The Burrito assembly project kicks off at 1 p.m.  La Tolteca is located at 1205 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix.