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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 13, 2006 Cody Ponder, a Southern Oregon University student, volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop, which is the agency�s main source of income. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven ‘It feels great to lend a hand’ From the president on down, St. Vincent de Paul is an organization of volunteer service Hometown Hero By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune Sometimes, a whole organization is a hero — slogging it out on the front line with the poor and needy, without pay and without a lot of publicity. Such are the 175 volunteers of Jackson County’s St. Vincent de Paul who run a thrift shop, emergency family shelter, food pantry, prescription drug and medical care help and troubleshoot evictions or cut-off utilities. Why? Advertisement "Out of the kindness of my heart. My mom volunteered here and I picked it up," says Cody Ponder, 20, a psychology student at Southern Oregon University, as he moves big pieces of furniture in the thrift shop. "It’s not often you see the younger generation doing that, but it feels great to lend a helping hand to people in need." Said the charity’s President Len Hebert of Jacksonville, a retired AT&T executive, who volunteers 30 hours a week, "It’s about giving back. The culture we have is kind of unique — an all-volunteer organization, where not one person gets paid. We can’t afford it. We couldn’t serve the poor and needy the way we need to if we were consuming the resources ourselves." Because St. Vincent de Paul focuses entirely on the homeless and working poor, their thrift shop and pantry, which serves almost 50,000 meals a year, fill up fast with donations from individuals and businesses — extra pizza from Pizza Hut, seconds and returns from Meier and Frank, bread from local groceries — "You can’t believe what comes in the back door," notes Hebert. The thrift store, open to the public at 2424 N. Pacific Highway, is the agency’s main source of income, but its selfless mission is a magnet to many foundations, including, in its almost completed $2.7 million capital campaign, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Ford Foundation of Roseburg, Paul G. Allen Foundation, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Cow Creek, Jeld-Wen Foundation, Naumes, Bear Creek Corp. and Carpenter Foundation, added Hebert. More than $900,000 has been raised from local people. The campaign will double the number of beds in St. Vincent’s emergency shelter and allow it to move from St. Mark’s Episcopal church to the Highway 99 site — and, with the new building, create space for classes and other services to the poor. The thrift shop is so well stocked with quality merchandise — a vintage tea set just went for $1,500 — that goods are kept waiting in storerooms and the best collectibles are put on sale at a special clearance every November, said Karen McNeilly, the store’s president. In addition to being sold for agency income, the donated goods go to clothe and provide furnishings for 5,500 adults and children who come in several times a year — and volunteer fashion advisors even help dress clients appropriately for job interviews, weddings, court appearances and such, she added. This treatment usually includes showers and haircuts, donated by local shops such as Bangs Hair Salon. "They (job seekers) have got one strike on them because they’re poor — and being badly dressed adds another two or three strikes, Hebert says. "So when they leave here for an interview, we want them to look like they just stepped up to the plate." Volunteers, "some just a notch above the (poor) people they serve," work in many facets of the charity. Twenty of them are trained counselors, who do intake interviews, determining client eligibility and need. Others put in hours on seasonal needs, says McNeilly, like making school supply packages (1,500 a year) and Christmas gift boxes, packed with stuffed animals, games and such. Founded in Paris in 1833, St. Vincent de Paul is Catholic in its roots but is a free-standing 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, with no financial ties to the church. About two-thirds of volunteers are Catholic, said Hebert. "I volunteer here (in the thrift shop) because, when we were kids, poor and living on the ranch, we didn’t have a dollar. Guess where we got all our clothes? St. Vincent de Paul," says Florence Grimes of Medford. "So when I retired as a CPA 13 years ago, I came the next day to volunteer here. I’ve been here ever since. They’re all such nice people and what’s really nice is the help they give the poor." All volunteers, somewhere along the line, have gotten an appreciation of the plight of the poor, notes Hebert and when they are helping, will often note, "There but for the grace of God go I." People down on their luck often only need a helpful push — or mentoring, like how to write a resume, "then they are able to walk up and say ‘how about giving me a job?’" he adds. He reels off some satisfying recent examples of St. Vincent volunteers who’ve "been there" and are on their way back: One woman living in the back of her truck, after help with food, clothing and mentoring, lands a job with a fruit packer and returned to volunteer as kitchen help. Another — a married man out of work more than a year, gets social services and food help, lands a full-time job and reimburses St. Vincent with donations. "We’re the only all-volunteer (social help) organization here and it’s fair to say we do quite a bit, much more than most people realize," says Hebert. "We don’t know of a service that someone else is giving that we don’t give." John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. Do you know someone who's a Hometown Hero? The first to volunteer when a school or a local family needs help, or someone who has risked his personal safety or financial security to help someone else? Submit suggestions to Mail Tribune reporter Sanne Specht via e-mail at �It feels great to lend a hand� ">[email protected] or by phone at 776-4497. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. 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