Saint Vincent DePaul / St. Mel Conference

The mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is “a network of friends, inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.”

Our Main Activities (St. Vincent de Paul - St. Mel Parish 4745 Pennsylvania Ave Fair Oaks, CA 95628)

Home Visit: The Home Visit is the heart of our vocation; our opportunity to meet and to serve Jesus Christ in the person of His poor. We meet people face to face, hear their stories and help find solutions for their difficulties. Often, this means helping with rent, utilities or food.

Homeless Ministry: Every Monday and Thursday (see food page for route) we take bagged lunches, toiletries, some clothing and other supplies to the homeless.  

Sewing/Knitting group: This group gathers to work every Tuesday after our meeting. They create a number of items for children, nursing home residents and the homeless which we distribute to where they’re needed in our area and overseas.

Supplies Shipments to the Philippines: We collect medical/first-aid supplies, clothing and other materials we periodically ship to a community in need there.

Christmas Activities: We distribute turkeys, hams and bags of food to needy families.

We put together gift boxes for youths in foster care or without permanent homes from SJHS.

We have a gifts program to help families with providing Christmas gifts for their children.

Thanksgiving Baskets: We distribute a turkey and all the trimmings to needy families.

Volunteers:

Also: There are fund-raisers, administrative work and special projects throughout the year that you can participate in.       

-There is no membership fee, no uniform and no hourly requirement. Some of our volunteers are in every week, some only occasionally and a few even work from home. Please consider coming to a meeting and/or call 916-546-4236 and leave a message regarding volunteer opportunities and someone will return your call.   

-We meet in the St. Jude Rm. every Tuesday morning after Mass (9:30-10) to cover the last week’s activities. This is a great time to learn more.

-Every Third Thursday of the month we meet in the evening, 6pm-7 to cover overall planning and upcoming activities. This is an opportunity for our members who may still work or members who can’t make the Tuesday meeting to get an overview of our recent work.