Vital charity honours stalwart volunteers
DECADES of unstinting hard work on behalf of the less fortunate among us were honoured in a rare night off for the members of the Listowel branch of the St Vincent dePaul at the Arms Hotel on Saturday.
Attended by up to 40 members of SVP committees past and present as well as the organisation’s many helpers in North Kerry, the night came as a wonderful reminder of the vital role the SVP played, and continues to play, in the welfare of the region.
And it was an extra special night for one long-serving stalwart in particular - Mary Stack. Mary was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers among other items for her dedication to the mission of the SVP over the years.
“We haven’t celebrated a night like this in some time but had decided, after overcoming the damage caused to our centre at the Plaza by the storms of 2014, to organise a get-together like this to give thanks to everyone who has helped the St Vincent de Paul over the years,” chairperson Marie McAuliffe told The Kerryman.
“We were delighted with the evening, and the chance it afforded us to acknowledge the hard work of so many. Our bingo nights alone involve so many – from the people who call the numbers to those paying out the cash as well as those in the office filling out the books and other duties,” Marie said.
That’s before any mention of the SVP day care centre service at the Plaza, its mealson-wheels service - operated by volunteer drivers and deliverers - and its shop, another hugely important fundraiser alongside the bingo and other funding streams.
Mary Stack was meanwhile saluted for her pioneering example in the organisation back in the day. She was one of four founding members of the SVP Ladies’ conference in 1967 alongside Mary B Keane, Hilda O’Donnell and Maureen Tatton.
From its establishment in Listowel 80 years ago until then, the SVP had been a male-only affair but Mary and her colleagues helped usher in a new era that has been very much to the good of the work.