The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Diocese of Cleveland, begins its 35th annual Blanket Sunday appeal this weekend, Oct. 9-10.
Last year, funds from the appeal were used to purchase more than 4,500 new winter blankets that were provided to the homeless. The appeal also funded the purchase of 179 beds/mattresses for low-income individuals and families in Northeast Ohio.
SVDP officials said the need is great. Make a secure online donation here. Checks, payable to St. Vincent de Paul Society, can be mailed to St. Vincent de Paul Society Blanket Sunday, 1404 E. 9th St., third floor, Cleveland, Ohio 44114.
SVDP Cleveland is affiliated with the international Society of St. Vincent de Paul, one of the oldest charitable organizations in the world. Originally known as the Conference of Charity, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 by French scholar Frédéric Ozanam, his fellow students and others who helped thousands of poor living in the slums of Paris during the cholera epidemic.
The first United States volunteer group conference was launched in 1845 in St. Louis, Missouri. Only 20 years later, in 1865, the Diocese of Cleveland started its first conference at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Today, SVDP Cleveland consists of 63 parish groups in Ashland, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Summit and Wayne counties.
Learn more about SVDP here.