St. Vincent de Paul Society

True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.

See the Face of Christ, Be the Face of Christ

Because of your generosity and seeing the Face of Christ in your neighbors in need, St. Vincent de Paul was able to help 42 families with financial aid and provide food to 584 families (1,964 individuals). Thank you for being the Face of Christ to those in need. God bless you!

Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without going away better and happier.

Employees of Loescher Heating & Air-Conditioning in Sterling (photo left to right – Employee, Jim Craft, employee, Dawn Naffziger) delivered 1,200 canned food items to the St. Vincent de Paul pantry on February 26th on behalf of the company and were greeted by SVdP members. The donation is the result of a project Loescher does, which entails donating a canned food item for each service call they handle. Loescher responded to 1,200 service calls in January. This is an annual project Loescher performs where they select a different food pantry from the surrounding area as a recipient. St. Vincent de Paul Society extends a huge THANK YOU to Loescher Heating & Air-Conditioning for supporting our food pantry and helping those less fortunate. This is a project Loescher has done for surrounding area pantries over the past years.

The 4H Clubs from Tampico, Prophetstown, Morrison and Sterling (Whiteside County 4H) shopped and donated a generous amount of food to the St. Vincent de Paul Pantry. They gifted the pantry with cereal, pancake mix, syrup and mac & cheese. The 4H teen group stocked the pantry shelves and received a brief tour of the pantry facility, in addition to learning about the financial aid program available to families in need in the community. A big thank you to the 4H’ers who stepped up to the challenge of helping their neighbors in need. God bless these teens for their compassion and generosity.

St. Vincent de Paul Society welcomes Payton, a Sauk Valley College Basketball team member, who volunteered at the food pantry on February 4, 2025, to help distribute food to families in need in our area. The St. Vincent de Paul Society encourages young people to take an active part in helping the less fortunate in our community. Payton stepped up to the challenge and judging by the smile on his face and that our our regular dedicated volunteer, Sharon, they enjoyed every minute of it.

In January, SVdP assisted 705 families with food and financial aid. There were 664 families that were assisted with food, which consisted of 1397 adults and 855 children, a total of 2252 individuals. In financial aid, 44 families were helped in the areas of utilities, prescriptions and gasoline for medical appointments. Your generosity helps feed the hungry, helps keep the lights on and helps families with fuel costs to travel to medical appointments. God bless the Whiteside County Community for all your donations.

Yesterday is gone; tomorrow has not yet come; we have only today. Let us begin.

Sterling Area Cub Scouts learned about St. Vincent de Paul Society, a local non-profit , faith-based organization, and how the organization works within the community to provide food to less fortunate families through a food pantry in addition to also providing some financial aid to help families with utility, prescription and gasoline costs. Ryan Murphy, Cub Scoutmaster, invited the SVdP Society to make a presentation to the cub scouts at their meeting on January 29, 2025 at First Christian Church in Sterling. The Cub Scouts learned valuable lessons in community service and helping others regardless of their background or beliefs. Pictured in the photo (back row left to right) are Fred Marruffo, Jim Hermes, members of Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Ryan Murphy, Cub Scoutmaster, and Sterling area Cub Scouts.

We wish to thank all our donors for their generosity which contributed to the success of our 2024 Fall Fundraising Campaign. We raised $12,050.00 to be used to help those in need in our community. Through your caring and compassion, families will be fed, families will not experience utility shutoffs and individuals will be able to travel to their health appointments. SVdP is truly grateful for the continued support we receive from our donors, as it makes it possible for us to remain dedicated to our mission of helping our neighbors in need. May God bless you for your generosity!