Community Group 2025 recap - Society of St Vincent de Paul

The St. John the Baptist chapter of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (Amherstburg) was able to meet the demands of everyone who was in need during the 2025 year.

We received 606 calls for emergency assistance that included food, clothing and other necessities that helped 907 adults and 397 children. This is a substantial increase over previous years and the need for assistance continues to grow monthly.

The annual “Christmas Tree” fundraiser at St. John the Baptist Church resulted in gift certificates for 33 families to have a full Christmas dinner and 68 children to receive toys and clothing. Vincentian Janice Ferguson was able to co-ordinate this large task, which resulted in a very successful fundraiser. 

Once again, Rev. Kim and the parishioners showed their generous spirit of love and kindness to those in need.

During the year, the public and separate schools in Amherstburg held canned good drives and this allowed our SSVP to have a continuous supply of food to be used for those who were in need. Thanks to the teachers and students from Amherstburg Public, Stella Maris and École St. Jean-Baptiste Separate schools, North Star and Villanova secondary schools for their dedication, which allowed our shelves to stay stocked.

Our “Coats for Kids” program received financial assistance from the local Knights of Columbus and this resulted in helping purchase ten coats, five pairs of snow pants and two pairs of boots. The recipients were very grateful that their children could stay warm during the cold days of winter. Thanks to Sandra Odette for a job well done.

The Knights also gave us many dates to conduct Friday fish fries, resulting in money which was then used to purchased whatever goods were needed to continue our work.

The Amherstburg chapter wishes to acknowledge our new president Camillo D’Alimonte and our past president John Corbett for their hard work and dedication to the needy. We also have new members Danny Ferguson, Cliff Gabriel, Steve and Anita Walach and Nancy Ferguson. Their strong desire to contribute to assist those in need displays their commitment to make Amherstburg a stronger community.

There are several businesses and community groups who were instrumental in collecting or providing food such as the Catholic Women’s League, Fort Malden Golden Age Club, Amherstburg Goodfellows, Sobeys, Wigle’s, No Frills and financial support from the Royal Bank in Amherstburg. Their assistance was greatly appreciated.

We were able to sponsor 14 youths aged 5-14 to attend the Bryerswood summer camp. All of their expenses including several necessities were fully covered so all the youth had to do was have fun.

Once again, we were able to financially support two secondary school students by way of a bursary thanks to a gift donated by a local woman.

The “Sleep Walk” fundraiser allowed us to purchase several beds, so every child had a comfortable bed and mattress every night that they could lay their head on.

Amherstburg’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul is able to use 100 per cent of all donations to help those in need. Every Vincentian is a volunteer and does not receive any financial compensation. They have also contributed approximately 5,500 hours of their time in 2025 to serve everyone regardless of their age, race, religion, gender, creed or origin of birth.

If you or someone you know requires assistance, you can contact us at our hotline at 519-984-7594.

—Submitted by Terence Hayes

Community Group 2025 recap - Society of St Vincent de Paul