The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Founded on April 23, 1833, in Paris, France by 20-year-old Frederic Ozanam and five other students, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul resolved to respond to Christ’s call by dedicating themselves to the poor, after the example of St. Vincent de Paul. Since its beginning, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul has grown to 800,000 members in over 150 countries with 1,500,000 volunteers. 

In 1978, The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Saints Peter and Paul Conference, Inc. set about helping the poor in Talbot County. By the late 1990s, operating out of the annex building behind Saints Peter and Paul Church on Goldsborough Street in Easton, our primary work was distributing bags of groceries every Wednesday.

Because Saints Peter and Paul Church was sold and construction began on the new church in 2005. St. Vincent de Paul moved to a storage locker behind Wishing Well Liquors just off Route 50. At that time, we handed out 30 bags of groceries a week from that location.

In 2008, SVdP moved into a 2,000-square-foot building on Commerce Drive. After four years, thanks to a large grant from the Michael and Nancy Klein Foundation, SVdP bought a building on Canvasback Drive. On January 2, 2012, we began operating SVdP in our 5,000-square-foot current location. 

As the need for food and other assistance increased, we needed more space. In 2016, through a federal block grant, we were able to expand our facilities by 2000 square feet, which allowed us to add a boutique and increase the size of the store's clothing, housewares and furniture departments. Adding this space increased our revenue, allowing us to fund the demand for food and services (rent, utilities, etc.), which continues to grow. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from many benefactors and organizations that help us with funding operations.

Looking to the future, we hope to continue with diversity in both our volunteers and in those we serve.  We anticipate continued growth and demand for our services.