The Buffalo chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) is an independent, non-profit organization whose members seek the forgotten, the suffering, the deprived, and treat them with dignity and compassion.

Our most relied upon programs is our meal and food distribution through our Dining Hall and Food Pantry and our Discount Clothing and Appliance shop. Five days a week, we serve a hot and delicious meal and provide fresh baked breads to go. Once a week, we open our food pantry of frozen donated foods for families and individuals to shop, assisted by volunteers. For both our bread and frozen item distributions, we require the recipient provide their own shopping bag which has customarily been a plastic shopping bag. Our store is open to the public assisting shoppers six days a week to obtain affordable clothing and household goods all bagged in plastic shopping bags upon purchase. With the looming threat of eliminating and/or taxing plastic shopping bags in favor of using reusable bags, our clients will experience yet another great hardship to obtain these bags which may lead to lack of food and even punishment by law. We unfortunately are also financially ill equipped to provide reusable bags so we ask the Awesome Foundation may help.

We will use the $1,000 Awesome Grant to purchase reusable shopping bags for our food and clothing recipient’s that depend on us in these harsh economic times. We will also use these bags as a visual platform to spread the Vincentian message of environmental stewardship. Serving the less fortunate while protecting our environment truly is awesome!!!