The mission of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is to assist in empowering persons to improve their quality of life, reach their fullest potential and care for their families. This effort recognizes the personal and spiritual growth of members that occurs when individuals become personally involved in helping others. The Society serves all people, as it sees God's living presence in each and every person.

Donations of food are made by the parish on the first weekend of the month. Additional contributions are made by St. Ursula School, the Parish Religious Education Program, Boys and Girls Scouts, AARP, and surplus government food. More than 50 bags of groceries are provided each month, and over 100 bags of groceries are provided at both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Meals on Wheels: Has teams of drivers and servers who deliver meals to 12-15 homes, five days per week, every week of the year, including holidays.

Our Daily Bread: Volunteers provide 55-60 casseroles each month. Six teams of 4-6 people work on a rotating schedule to transport the casseroles and serve at the Our Daily Bread center. Each team serves twice per year. Over 150 people are involved with the planning, preparation, transport and service of this program.

Clothing Bins: We possess three bins and we are served with biweekly pick-ups by the Baltimore St. Vincent de Paul office. St. Ursula ranks second in the Archdiocese in our clothing collections, with over 68,000 lbs. of clothing donated in 2003. Note: Only clothing should be left in bins.

Transportation: We provide transportation for doctor's visits, shopping trips and special needs. A van transport service is provided for the 9:00am Mass each Sunday, handled by a team of 7 drivers.

Family Adoption: This program matches donors with needy familiies. More than 40 families were adopted in 2003.

The Christmas Giving Tree: St. Ursula provides gifts to eight local charitable organizations who serve the needy. These include:

Thanks to the generosity of St. Ursula's parishioners, our St. Vincent de Paul Society was able to support the needy of our community (covering zip codes 21234 and 21236), and join with other neighboring parishes in cooperataive programs throughout the Baltimore Archdiocese. In 2003, a total exceeding $20,000 was used to help 161 families. An additional $11,000 was used to assist other parishes, community organizations and St. Vincent de Paul programs. Cash and check donations are most welcome. Please make checks out to St. Vincent de Paul, St. Ursula Church.

Direct Contact for help with B. G. & E. turn offs, evictions, pharmaciy emergencies and crises, call us on Tuesday and Thursday of each week; 2:00-4:30 P.M. at St. Ursula Church, 8801 Harford Road, Parkville. Phone: 410-665-0918.

Car Donation: call 1-888-523-7837 to donate automobiles. Please have title in hand when making the call.

Furniture Donations: Our pick-up has been discontinued. Please call the Salvation Army, 1-800-229-7156.

Support E-Scrip Program at Safeway and other retailers. Sign-up today at www.escrip.com. Our group name is: St. Ursula St. Vincent de Paul Society, with Group ID of 1042788.