Walk For The Poor Raises More Than $35,000
Organizers of the annual St. Vincent de Paul Walk for the Poor tell The Message that more than $30,000 will go to direct aid for the needy across Southwest Indiana.
More than 260 walkers joined 50 volunteer workers on Sept. 30 for the 2017 walk for the Poor, held on the grounds of the Evansville State Hospital on the city’s east side. Organizers report that walkers donated more than $10,000 and large numbers of canned goods. The latter will go directly to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, which serves more than 1,000 needy households each month.
Walk for the Poor sponsors donated more than $25,000 in support of the event. Walk expenses are about $5,000, so all of the walkers’ monetary donations and more than 80 percent of the sponsors’ donations will be used for direct aid to the needy in the form of
food, clothing, bedding and help keeping utilities in place. Walk organizers tell The Message that matching gifts for many donations also will be arriving, so the totals are not final – and will continue to climb.
They also offered special thanks to Father Ted Tempel, retired priest of the Diocese of Evansville, who welcomed walkers and led the opening prayer; and to former Evansville resident Vince Brenner, whose family brought him from Noblesville to serve as our real-life St. Vincent de Paul to send walkers on their way and join them for a portion of the walk. Brenner had attended the first seven walks before health issues forced his move to the Indianapolis area after the 2014 event.
