St. Vincent de Paul Chapter recounts accomplishments

Christmas is a time when folks who have less need more. One Union County religious fraternity believes, however, that poverty needs help throughout every year, from folks who care. That's what St. Vincent de Paul Society's St. Francis of Assisi Chapter President Donald Breslin announced recently, as he pointed out the number of families helped by the St. Francis of Assisi Chapter's charitable aid for the past four years, dispersed to needy families in Union and Towns counties, Ga.

For the period 2004 through 2007, the St. Francis of Assisi Chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society helped an average 159 families with an annual average of $15,223, or $383 per family, for a total over the four year period of $60,897.59.

Men of St. Vincent de Paul Society stand at church exits following Sunday Masses, begging donations from members of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Blairsville, Ga.

Founded in 1833 by six university students in Paris, and honoring the Catholic St. Vincent de Paul, today the Society includes almost 900,000 members spread among 46,000 confraternities in 130 countries of five continents. The Society's purpose is to provide direct aid to those who suffer, and to help individuals reduce and even eliminate the causes of their suffering, themselves. Society members use their own resources, sharing not only possessions but the gift of their sense of love and charity.