The St Martin of Tours Conference in Forney, TX was recently gifted a new space for their Food Pantry. The parish allowed us to move into an unused classroom over doubling our storage space and because our Knights of Columbus wanted our old space, they helped clean up and move our pantry. An anonymous donor gave us a brand new refrigerator so we can provide some perishable items to our friends in need.

Members purchased SVDP shirts in order to be more visible at the parish. They also compiled a flier that contained the stats of all the help given to our friends in need since January and information on how to donate to us. On September 9, the feast day of Blessed St Frederic Ozanam they all attended 4:30PM Mass in Vincentian shirts and at the end of Mass Father Patrick called us to the front of the Church and led us in a Vincentian Renewal of Promise. After the Mass, they all celebrated by having dinner together. These efforts have almost tripled our monthly online giving from 2022 to 2023.

• The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) grew out of the "Conference of Charity" which was founded in Paris in 1833. The principal founder was a young man of twenty, Frederic Ozanam. He felt it was necessary not only to love God, but to follow Him and serve His children in need. The society quickly spread, and today SVDP Conferences exist throughout the world.

The St. Martin Conference of St. Vincent de Paul was established in June of 2000. Members assist the needy by visiting them in their homes in order to determine how we can best meet their needs. Funding for SVDP comes from parish collections and individual donations.   If you wish to give a monetary donation, you can either write a check to St. Vincent de Paul and either place in the collection basket during mass or bring to the office.  You can also donate through the parish online giving portal at https://giving.parishsoft.com/app/giving/stm9470201.  Food donations can be placed in the St. Vincent de Paul box outside the parish office doors.

• For assistance call our hotline at (972) 564-0722.  To request food, please use this link https://forms.gle/kC2ioGEpVW9zQaBB9.
• Our email is forneysvdp@gmail.com
  

February Update: We helped 171 people, including 72 people through our food pantry, 84 people through home visits to pay a utility bill, 4 people in prison, and 6 people through the telephone. We provided neighbors with $1,088.00 worth of groceries and paid $6,134.26 in utility bills. Members provided 83 hours of service and drove a total of 746 miles to help our neighbors in need.