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St. Martin de Porres Ministry helps Vincent Village Kids
If you overhead someone in the gathering area a couple of Sundays ago comment that she ”finally bought underwear,” we hope you weren’t too shocked. It really wasn’t as risqué a remark as it sounds—it was simply a member of the St. Martin de Porres Ministry who had fulfilled a promise to shop for much-needed items for homeless children at Vincent House.
A summer raffle for items that included gift cards, art work, CDs, an elegantly framed cross stitched angel by Jane Wick, and an original quilt made by Maxine Stovall netted over $500 for the ministry. After a brief discussion, the committee voted to use the money to buy books for children in Vincent House/Village transitional housing so that each child in residence could have a book to call his or her own.
But when committee chair Metrice Smith spoke with Vincent House executive director Ann Helmke, she discovered that while the kids love books, they need underwear. Many children arrive at the shelter with little more than the clothes they are wearing. When Metrice reported this to the committee, the members voted to split the money between the two worthy efforts, and the shopping began. Retired teacher Louise Yahne shopped for books, and retired neighborhood center executive director and former St. Mary’s pastoral associate Andrea Thomas shopped the sales for socks, underwear, tee shirts, and camisoles for school age boys and girls. The items were delivered to Vincent House on November 16, much to the delight of Vincent House staffers.
