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St. Vincent de Paul

Two conferences. One Mission.

East Lansing Catholic has two conferences of St. Vincent de Paul societies. Each conference serves our community through different services. While they act as two separate conferences, their mission to serve our community is the same.

Support SVDP
Need Assistance?
How Vincentians Help & Volunteer Opportunities
Meetings & Membership

Support SVDP

Make a Gift today.
More than half of our funding is thanks to parishioners and individuals. We receive no funding from the Diocese, the Church, or our local Catholic Charities agency. Your support ensures that we are able to meet the needs of our community.

Have physical items to donate?
The St. Vincent de Paul Store (1020 W. Washington, Lansing) will accept household goods in usable condition. This includes furniture, appliances, utensils, clean clothing, dishware, pots & pans, and toys. When in doubt about an item call 517.484.5395. Items donated to the Store are made available to assist our neighbors. Store profits and grants assist us with our larger requests for help.

Make your gift:
- Online by clicking here to make a one-time or sustainable, recurring gift.
- Poor boxes. The money you place in the poor boxes at each church is directed to the work of our mission.
- Checks.Please make payable to St. Vincent de Paul Society and specify whether your gift is the for the St. John or St. Thomas St. Vincent de Paul Society. If your check is placed in the regular collection, please indicate if your donation is for use by the St. John or St. Thomas St. Vincent de Paul Society. If checks are mailed, please mail to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, 955 Alton Rd., East Lansing, MI 48823.
- Church envelopes. If you receive church envelopes dedicated to St. Vincent de Paul Society, you can place either cash or checks within these envelopes.
**Please be sure to specify in writing whether your gift is the for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul SJSC or St. Vincent de Paul STA.**

Need Assistance?

Reach out today.

You can reach us by calling the parish office at 517-351-7215, Monday - Friday. We serve local neighbors regardless of color, creed, ethnicity, sex, nationality or any other identifying characteristic. We are on duty six days a week and will arrange a visit to suit your schedule.

For the St. John Student Center conference you can email st. [email protected].

How Vincentians Help & Volunteer Opportunities

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St. Thomas Aquinas SVDP

We assist with crisis financial assistance for housing, utilities, appliance repair, transportation, and other vital needs. Vouchers are available to purchase basic furniture, bedding, housewares, and clothing from the St. Vincent de Paul store in Lansing. We can provide short-term food also.

Each year, we make around 180 visits to serve 400 individuals of which 40-50% are children. We provide on average $350 per visit. Because we share costs by twinning with other parishes, each visit costs our conference just under $300. Most of our income comes from the generous support of parishioners.

After the call for assistance, two Vincentians visit the neighbor to both hear and see their needs. Their crisis situation may be due to a brief unexpected temporary loss of income or more complex involving, several children, illness, and other complicating factors. In the latter situation, we can offer referral to other local and state agencies.

No two situations are identical.

Together The Vincentians and the neighbor assess how St. Vincent de Paul can best help to resolve the immediate crisis. If possible, we will try to move our neighbor onto a more sustainable path. Finally we offer the neighbor an opportunity to pray.

St. John Student Center SVDP

The St. John Food Cupboard serves area residents in need of food assistance. The Food Cupboard offers fresh produce, canned-and dry-good items, meat/fish, eggs, bread and pastries. Each year, we distribute approximately 3,000 bags of items to neighbors who are in need, regardless of background or beliefs. The Food Cupboard has many volunteer opportunities, from sorting and stocking donations, shopping and transporting items, to volunteering on Saturday mornings. The Food Cupboard is located on the lower level of St. John Church in room 19. Shopping at the Food Cupboard is by appointment on the first, second, or third Saturday of the month. Guests are able to shop at the Food Cupboard once per month. To request an appointment, email [email protected].
Volunteer Opportunities

Friends of Returning Citizens prepares and delivers food, personal care items, and a Meijer card to men and women upon their release from prison. The goal of this ministry is to communicate to these neighbors that we want to support them in their goal of successfully re-entering society. Email [email protected]

Christmas Adopt-a-Family coordinates gift giving each December for twenty families in the area. We organize the parish sign-up for gift giving, collect and organize donations, assemble food baskets, and distribute items to each family. For more information email [email protected].

We support Cristo Rey Community Center by coordinating parishioners to staff the clothing closet, personal needs pantry, food cupboard and kitchen. Volunteer shifts are Monday-Friday, usually in the morning and early afternoon. Cristo Rey Community Center serves vulnerable populations in three zip codes in Lansing.

March-May
Advent House Monthly Meals a group of our volunteers prepares and serve a chicken dinner for as many as one hundred neighbors who come to Advent House in downtown Lansing on the 3rd Saturday of the month.

PB+J with Love Snack provides nutritious snack sacks each week to 50 homeless men and women who visit Advent House Ministries in Lansing. Each Monday volunteers from the parish (individuals, groups of friends, or families) take turns preparing snack sacks for distribution on Tuesday mornings. The St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. John provides all items needed for the snack sacks. Learn more here.
Fall, Spring, Summer Signup

Loaves and Fishes Ministries Loaves and Fishes maintains a foundational belief in the equality of all humanity and strives to provide clean and safe housing to all guests in a non judgmental and accepting atmosphere.Individuals, groups of friends, or families are invited to prepare a meal to feed 15 adults on the 2nd or 3rd Sundays of the month. Dinners should include a main meat dish, a vegetable, a second side dish, and dessert. A gallon of milk and dinner rolls are optional. If possible, please deliver your meal. If not, we will arrange for another volunteer to deliver your meal. The St. Vincent de Paul Society is able to cover the cost of food you purchase up to $60; details regarding this and more will be provided after you sign up to volunteer.
Volunteer Sign Up

Meetings & Membership

St. Thomas Aquinas

Meeting Times
1st Wednesdays at 7:00 pm
3rd Wednesdays at 12:00 pm

Conference meetings affirm the importance of the spiritual and social dimensions of Vincentians as they come together as a community of faith, love, prayer and action. After scriptural readings, prayer, and business items, Vincentians report on their home visits and, if necessary, ask advice about how to best serve our neighbors.

Because conference members come from various walks of life and available resources change frequently, these discussions can often bring out new ideas to solve a neighbor's needs. The meeting ends with prayer for those we serve and the special intentions of our members.
Becoming an active member requires attendance at bi-monthly meetings, participating in a SVdP orientation session, and accompanying an experienced member on home visits. Generally, members are "on-call" every two to three weeks and visits sometimes are made in the early evening or on Saturdays.

St. john student center

Meeting Times
2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 7:00 pm
Location: Room 16, lower level of St. John Student Center

We welcome college-age and older members of the St. John – St. Thomas parish family to join us at our twice monthly meetings as we gather to pray, share and plan.

Meetings include prayer, reflection, and a discussion of the various ways we can help Lansing area neighbors who are in need. Meetings conclude by 8:30.

Please reach out to Chuck Roboski at st. [email protected] for meeting and membership information.

- St. THomas Aquinas
  
  Inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need, we join together to offer person-to-person service to our neighbors who have nowhere else to turn for help. Uniquely, we make home visits providing financial assistance with costs of living. By doing this with care and respect, we show our neighbors that they matter and are children of God.
  In past years, St. Thomas & St. John parishioners have provided half our yearly income. We pray that you will continue to do so.
  
  You can send a gift in the following ways:
  putting money in the poor boxes located at each of the doors of St. Thomas Aquinas church,
  writing a check made out to “Society of St. Vincent de Paul STA” and mailing it to 955 Alton Rd., East Lansing, 48423,
  drop an envelope in the collection clearly marked that the money is for STA SVdP.
- St. John Student Center
  
  We operate a Food Pantry at St. John Church that annually distributes 3,000-plus bags of food to those in need.
  Our “Friends of Returning Citizens” ministry provides “welcome baskets” of food, personal care items, and a Meijer gift card to men and women on the day of their release from prison. Our two-member teams also offer to pray with the returning citizens.
  Our members and volunteers coordinate the Clothing Closet at the Cristo Rey Community Center campus of Catholic Charities of Ingham, Eaton and Clinton Counties.
  Our members and volunteers prepare a monthly meal and weekly snacks for the homeless who visit Advent House. We also coordinate twice monthly meals for guests at Loaves and Fishes Shelter.
  Finally, we coordinate the parish’s Christmas “adopt-a-family program” that provides gifts and food baskets for 20 area families.
  To request an appointment, email [email protected].
  Volunteer at the Food Cupboard
  
  Click "How Vincentians Help & Volunteer Opportunities" at the top of the page for other volunteering opportunities.