Special to The Message
In February, more than 70 volunteers from Daviess and Martin counties assembled 2,000 chicken noodle soup kits for the victims of Hurricane Helene in Arden, North Carolina. Arden is located just south of Asheville, NC. Volunteers included St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Vincentians of the Washington, Indiana, District from St. John, St. Joseph, St. Peter and Our Lady of Hope parishes, as well as their SVdP Youth Group, and members of Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). Kits are made up of a can of cooked chicken, a baggie of noodles and spices along with instructions on how to make the soup. Each kit will feed four to six people, therefore, 2,000 kits will serve 8,000 to 12,000 people.
RSVP and other charitable organizations have historically made these kits in quantities of 1,000 for local food pantries. With the support of the volunteers, the 2,000 kits were assembled in less than two hours. Using the St. John Conference Food Pantry van and a U-Haul trailer, the kits were delivered to St. Barnabas SVdP Food Pantry in Arden, North Carolina, on Valentine’s Day. A significant donation from a local couple from St. John the Evangelist Parish made this soup project possible.
Fred Petrazio, Pantry Director, and other Vincentians were on hand at St. Barnabas Food Pantry in Arden, North Carolina, to receive the kits. They were very appreciative of receiving the soup kits. Their SVdP Pantry serves 80-100 families weekly. Their pantry consists of converted office/meeting spaces in the St. Barnabas’ parish hall. While donations of food were very forthcoming right after the disaster, recently food supplies have been waning. While Vincentians delivering the kits did not spend any time touring the devastation of Hurricane Helene, there was evidence of the destruction along the highways traveled. Petrazio said where he lives, he received 23 inches of rain from the hurricane.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA is a Catholic lay organization inspired by Gospel values. We join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to neighbors in need, and keep in the tradition of our founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam, and our patron, St. Vincent de Paul. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is composed of women and men who seek personal holiness through works of charity. In this essential way, the Society differs from organizations whose principal objective is not the spiritual advancement of their member but the doing of good for someone else. We don’t provide transactions, we create and nurture relationships. The Society’s mission is clear: Our ministry is a means for acquiring holiness.