February 19, 2016
by Barb Koster
Our St. Vincent de Paul Conference continues to have a busy winter! We will be your hosts for the next Simple Supper, Monday, February 22nd. Come and enjoy the soups made by our conference members and fellowship with St. Clare Parishioners. We are always ready to welcome new volunteers, so if you are interested in getting involved on a regular basis or for just a single project, please talk with one of the Vincentians at Simple Supper to learn about ways to get involved.
SVdP at St. Clare functions as part of the Detroit East District Council. Detroit East is pretty small these days, due to the closure of parishes on the east side—like Queen of Peace and St. Peter or the lack of a SVdP Conference in churches that remain open—like St. Philomena and St. Jude. So the remaining conferences do what we can to provide assistance to the needy beyond our borders, and we meet monthly to discuss ways to collaborate and keep up with the news and needs of the community.
St. Clare will be hosting the next Detroit East District Council meeting on Sunday, February 28th. Vincentians from St. Paul on the Lake, St. Raymond, Star of the Sea, St. Ambrose, and St. Clare are invited to participate in the 9 o’clock Mass, and then attend a breakfast meeting in the church social hall immediately after Mass. Some items on the agenda include getting summer camp enrollment going, how to help fill the void left by the closing of the SVdP store on Kercheval at Alter, making energy assistance available to anyone on the “east side” needing help, and discussing what Vincentians can do to lobby government and transportation officials to make reliable bus service available for citizens without vehicles—especially those living in Detroit but working in the suburbs. Please welcome our visiting Vincentian guests, and keep our ministry in your prayers!