The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international Catholic lay organization which seeks, in a spirit of justice and charity, to help those who are suffering. It was founded by Blessed Frederic Ozanam, a young man of 20, in 1833 in Paris, France. The founding group consisted of six men, who placed themselves under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul – the “Apostle of Charity ” – and derives its inspiration from his thinking and work. From these humble beginnings, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has grown to an international organization, numbering over 52,000 Conferences in 125 countries. There are over 4400 Conferences in the United States, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. All members of the Society, called "Vincentians", are un-paid volunteers.

In 1972 Fr. Richard Calmus, the pastor of St. Andrew’s, gathered a group of interested men to discuss the establishment of a Parish Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. In 1973 our Conference was formally aggregated (established) with the following charter members: Bill Bateman, Bob Bertagnolli, Benny Cortez, Raul Diaz, Fritz Frey, Bob Hays, Bernie Kuhl (President), Ray Miranda, Bill Moyes, with Fr. Tom Rice and Fr. Thomas Millane as the Spiritual Directors.

This core group was quickly joined by Francis McMenemy, Dick Plato, and Bruno Rolak. The Conference members served the needy of the Parish and the area, through donations by the parishioners. In 1974 the Conference operated its first “thrift store”out of a storage closet in the Parish Center – the very small beginnings of a great work of charity.

No work of charity is foreign to the Society; it can be any person-to-person assistance that promotes human dignity. Our Conference provides emergency assistance with utilities, food, prescriptions, temporary lodging, local transportation, clothing and household items from our Thrift Store. The St. Vincent de Paul Society donated the initial site of the Forgach House - the domestic crisis shelter - and continues to assist in this ministry of Catholic Community Services of Cochise County.
Last year we provided over $200,000 in assistance. Our support base includes St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, local organizations, service clubs, churches, individuals and the Thrift Store.

As indicated, the needy are visited in their homes by a pair of Vincentians, however, because of the enormous volume of clients seeking assistance, our Conference conducts personal interviews in our Society Office ( 616 E. Bartow) 12:00-4:00PM Monday-Friday.

We work closely with other social service agencies, including those on Ft.Huachuca. We do referrals and advocate with other agencies on behalf of our clients.

We engage in "Twinning" through the St. Vincent de Paul Society International, providing support for St. Vincent de Paul Conferences in the Philippines and Panama. We are working with groups in Puerto Penansco, Mexico, to help them establish a Conference.

We have a Thrift Store, operating out of two locations (Main Store - 220 Myer Drive, and the "Best of St. Vincent" at 236 W. Fry Blvd) which provide merchandise to shoppers at reasonable prices, thereby generating income for the Conference. The Stores also "fill orders" for the needy on the recommendation of a Vincentian caseworker. The Store relies on donations from the community for its stock and the community has been has been very generous -- making our Stores a great success.

In October 1993, the Conference took over the Community Food Bank of Sierra Vista, which was in danger of closing. Under Manager Stan Garner, our Food Bank receives food from a number of resources, including local food drives, FEMA, and the monthly food doantion from the Parish. In 2004 over 3900 food boxes were distributed - 290,267 lbs of food - feeding approximately 11,500 persons in our community.

We are the St. Andrew the Apostle Conference, one of the eight St. Vincent de Paul Conferences in the Cochise County Vicariate. The President of our Conference is Mrs. Madeline Lusk and Fr. Greg Adolf serves as our Spiritual Director. The Conference meets weekly for prayer, assessment of our work and mutual learning and support - as we strive to serve JESUS Christ in the disguise of our needy neighbor.

Please consider whether our Lord is calling YOU to serve Him in the life-giving, life-shaping ministry which is the St. Vincent de Paul Society!