Save the Date: 6th Annual Walk for the Poor

For the sixth year the St. William conference of St. Vincent de Paul will again be hosting the Annual Friends of the Poor Walk, this year on Saturday, September 28th, 2013, and you're invited.

The weather was excellent for the gentle 2 mile walk around the neighborhood surrounding the parish, and we're hoping for more of the same this year. We were thrilled to have 100 walkers join us for the 2012 walk and would love to see that number exceeded. 

As in 2008 when the nation-wide walk began, all walk proceeds stay in the community to assist the local poor and less fortunate.

The 2013 walk begins at 11:00 preceded by a mass at 10:30 and registration beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Refreshments after the walk will be generously provided by Catholic Financial Life Branches 40 and 272.

As always, sponsorships and donations are appreciated, but not required. We'd love your company.

Service hours and volunteer opportunities for students and CF members are available. The walk is a perfect way to help the poor while fulfilling service requirements for class.

The 2013 walk begins at 11:00 at St. William Catholic Church, 440 N Moreland Blvd., Waukesha, WI. Contact Ruth or PJ with sponsorship or any other inquiries: lady5mb@aol.com  262-542-5125

This is what GENEROSITY looks like

So busy at work Friday and the next couple weeks. Always busy at end of month, but this time we were short one key person who's also on vacation first half of October.
My shift shared about a dozen pizzas Friday, brought in to help celebrate another goal attained. Free pizza helped ease the burden of a very busy day, but I still felt I had to come in Saturday to catch up.
One problem... the 5th Annual Friends of the Poor Walk, something I'd been looking forward to for months, also was Saturday.
I was able to accomplish a lot in four hours and still made it for the walk's start. A truly beautiful day for a walk, or even just to be outside, the early fall colors made for a glorious two mile trek.
Helping the poor has never been so easy. We were truly blessed this year: the generosity of many sponsors and walkers, fresh food and drink courtesy of Catholic Financial Life Branch 40, the huge variety of home baked goods looked forward to every year, Fr. Kevin's pre-walk mass and blessing...  It seems every year is better than the last, and not just because of last year's rain. It was wonderful to see so many more walkers than we'd had in the first couple years - and not just from St. William's either - several of whom were either in wheelchairs or strollers.
So many, it seems, care about the poor. Maybe they know someone or have been there themselves. It's possible they just know the good that St. Vincent de Paul does and wanted to help support us. Either way we walked together, from age one to mid-eighties, united in the common cause to help relieve suffering due to poverty.
It was a beautiful day!

5th Annual Walk

I have my shoes picked out for this Saturday's St. Vincent de Paul Friends of the Poor Walk. Sandals, actually.
I'd been wondering what I was going to do to replace a favorite pair of sandals, Ozark Trail River Sandals. With winter coming, the off season for these, was thinking about shopping online. I don't plan on wearing them much in the next six months, but they're just too handy for a quick run outside to take out the trash or whatever. I've probably had the last pair five years. I'm not kidding! These things have been great. Wore them in all kinds of weather and terrain and the straps never separated from the soles like with every other pair I've owned. They're just a Chinese-made, inexpensive Walmart sandal, but the only reason I'm replacing them now is I've worn the once-substantial soles down to practically nothing.
As my continuing run of luck would have it, I stumbled upon a new pair of the exact same model sandal in our son's old room while cleaning. I was disappointed they were a size smaller than my current pair and thought they'd never fit. However, upon trying them on. . . Don't tell our son, but I'm keeping them! They fit even better at this size. I highly recommend Ozark Trail River Sandals.
I also highly recommend joining us for the fifth annual walk for the poor. The two mile walk will make you feel so good in more ways than one.
Why should we help the needy? Because the needy are us. They are all around us. Many of us are just a couple of paychecks from them. While St. Vincent de Paul is a Catholic organization, we offer assistance to anyone in need. There are four conferences in the City of Waukesha to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate in the city, and many more in Waukesha County.
I've been a Vincentian for ten years and have seen the good a little prayer and generosity can do in time of desperation. The St. William Conference of St. Vincent de Paul has been blessed to be able to host this walk all five of it's years, and this year we are doubly blessed to have a t-shirt-full of generous corporate sponsors.
Please allow me to ackowledge the sponsors who've made this year's walk and future assistance to the needy possible:

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“: THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS “                                              

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LAW OFFICES OF JAMES J. MATHIE

HORNER PLUMBING CO. INC.

WHEATON FRANCISCAN HEALTHCARE

SUMMIT WOODS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

UNITED BROTHERHOOOD  OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA LOCAL 344

LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA LOCAL 113

METRO SOUND AND VIDEO

CESARZ, CHARAPATA & ZINNECKER

WAUKESHA COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFFS ASSOCIATION

COX PLUMBING CO. INC.

RANDLE- DABLE -BRISK FUNERAL HOME

ROCHESTER DELI, INC.

WAUKESHA COUNTY LABOR COUNCIL

SHAEFER BRUSH MFG. CO. INC.

R&R INSURANCE SERVICES

CATHOLIC FINANCIAL LIFE BRANCH 40

SVDP WAUKESHA DISTRICT COUNCIL

If you'd like to join us, we'd love to have you. No fees required, but donations accepted. Refreshments served courtesy of Catholic Financial Branch 40.
Walk begins at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29th, at St. William, 440 N Moreland Blvd., Waukesha.