Local Expert Blog: Why You Should Donate To The Society Of Saint Vincent De Paul

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP) has been a staple of the Windsor-Essex community for over 120 years, and we wish to continue our role as a pillar of the community by continuing our work of helping those in need rise above their circumstances. SSVP cannot continue its work without support from the community though. With so many charities to choose from when deciding where to donate your old clothes, household goods, and other methods of support, I’d like to explain why you should choose SSVP.

First and foremost, when you donate to SSVP everything not only stays in the community but is used to help improve Windsor-Essex for everyone. All proceeds produced from sales in the Society Shoppe stores are put toward helping the community. Over $100,000 worth of free goods have been given away through the store’s voucher system. We have also delivered over 30,000 boxes of food through home visits to the most vulnerable in the Windsor-Essex community last year. This is all in addition to The Society’s work with organizations like Hiatus House, The Welcome Centre, Coats for Kids and providing job training through the Unemployed Help Centre and New beginnings; programs that target the root causes of poverty in order to end the cycle of poverty. We catch them a fish so they make it through the day, then we teach them to fish themselves so they can make a life for themselves and their children.

A concern I often hear when people are considering donating to charity is that most of the money goes to paying management; I can assure you this is not the case with the SSVP. Only 5% of the operating costs goes to paying administration and management. The stores are even designed in a way that minimizes costs; there is no focus on fancy shelving or decoration, we only buy what we can’t have donated. This allows as much of our store’s revenue as possible to go to helping those in need.

When you are deciding what charity to give your donations to, I hope you will consider giving to The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Without your help, we will not be able to continue to support and improve the Windsor-Essex community.

“As man draws nearer the stars, why should he not also draw nearer to his neighbour”
– Lyndon B. Johnson

Sincerely,

Rosanne

Sponsored story by Rosanne Winger, Society Saint Vincent de Paul Windsor Essex. Visit their Facebook page here, or the Facebook page for the Society Shoppe here. You can also visit their website here, or reach them by phone at 519-253-7481.