Email from Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA

Welcome to the first edition of our International Twinning Program quarterly newsletter! In these pages, we will share uplifting stories, program updates, and resources that highlight the spirit of faith, friendship, and service that unites our Conferences around the world.

International Twinning Newsletter

By Michael J. Nizankiewicz, Chair, U.S. Twinning Commission

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul National Council of the United States is blessed to serve as an active International Twinning partner, walking in solidarity with Conferences and Councils in need both here at home and around the world.

Through this quarterly newsletter, the U.S. Twinning Commission will share inspiring updates from our international partners, showing how your generosity is transforming lives and communities across the globe. We welcome your thoughts and invite every Conference and Council not yet twinning to consider joining this beautiful work of charity, unity, and hope.

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Hope in the Midst of Conflict: Serving Families in Lebanon

By Michael J. Nizankiewicz, Chair, U.S. Twinning Commission

The ongoing conflict in Lebanon is often overlooked by other wars in the region, but not by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Thanks to a $100,000 International Twinning grant by the SVdP National Council of the United States last year, approximately 1,200 families in urgent need were helped with humanitarian aid.

One Society, One Mission: Walking with Our Lord of Mercy in Ecuador

By Valeria Vlasich, International twinning Coordinator

The needs of neighbors in California often involve rent, utilities and food assistance. But nothing prepared two Vincentians for what they found when they traveled to Ecuador in July. More than 30 percent of Ecuador’s population, after all, lives in extreme poverty.

Mike Hanika and Laurie O’Keefe of the St. Maximilian Kolbe Conference in Westlake Village, California, visited Rumiloma, a resource-limited community on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador, to visit their new twinning partner: the Señor de la Misericordia Conference.