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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Who’s New at St. Vincent de Paul?

Meet Audrey Talbott

Greetings to Mario Laprova

Dear fellow volunteers and supporters of our St. Vincent de Paul Council,

Without exception, we are experiencing

higher demands in all the many service

areas we provide to poor and needy. It

appears that some of the people in our

community who formerly might have

been classified as lower middle class

are slipping into the working poor

category. A growing number of people

who formerly were able to make ends

meet, are confronted today with

sorting through what real life needs

can they do without because they

simply can no longer afford everything

that is required to sustain

a way of living. Some of these people

seem to have no financial buffer left

due the higher costs for the necessities

of life and therefore cannot

accommodate the increased medical,

housing, utility, food, transportation,

prescription drug, clothing and

household item costs. The impact to

our Council is an increased in demand

for our services between 20 and 35%

depending on the type of service.

To keep up with all this we are always

in need of additional volunteers from

all backgrounds and a continuing

stream of donated items to our Thrift

Store. In turn, there is a need for a

continuing stream of purchases from

our Thrift Store as well as a continuing

stream of other financial support.

I thank all of our volunteers and

supporters who make possible our

meeting this demand. If you can help

us please contact Cheryle Tatman, our

volunteer coordinator, or me at

772-3828.

Sincerely and God Bless you,

Len Hebert

Besides working as a cashier in the Thrift Store on Tuesdays, Audrey is  also our new Treasurer and part of the younger generation we are seeking to attract as volunteers to Saint Vincent de Paul. Both her mom and dad, Bill and Yoshi Pehl, were volunteers and her mom still spend much energy assisting in the Thrift Store. Mom and dad encouraged her to volunteer so she joined SVDP in 2002. She really likes the other great people although she sometimes wonders about why a few complain so much. Audrey formerly worked for United Airlines in Medford as a customer representative and owned and managed the TouVelle Lodge.  Her husband, Mike owns a construction business in Medford and has 3 sons, one a 25 year old starving artist, and the other two, 21 and 22, both serving in the Navy. You might see her sometimes scooting around proudly sporting her Navy sweatshirt. We certainly welcome Audrey into the organization and hope she can entice some of her peers to join us.

Mario, our new CPA, is originally from Teano, Italy near Naples. I think Mario should receive an award as “most persistent prospective volunteer” at our 2008 Volunteer Awards Dinner. He originally became interested in working as a volunteer here over five years ago. But, either because we had not perfected our recruiting system or because it wasn’t meant to be, it was just a few months ago that a match was finally made.

And are we so lucky it was.  Mario says, “Most non-profits struggle because of a lack of skilled financial professionals to assist them,” says Mario. “I would like to see other retired CPAs take on these kinds of positions.” Of special interest to Mario is to making our financial reporting more appealing to foundations thereby paving the way for more successful grant applications.

When Mario discovered we had completed all the new building over the past several years without acquiring any debt, he was very impressed. Likewise, he was struck by the quality of the volunteers he has met here and said, “You are really lucky to such a fine gentleman as Len Hebert as your President.”

Prior to coming to Medford Mario was a CPA in Rhode Island for 35 years where he met and married his wife. He began visiting his brother-in-law Frank Philips in Medford and liked the community. (Frank is a principle at Saint Mary's.) Mario lives with his wife Catherine in Medford.  They met while she was his office manager at his Rhode Island business. 