Above photos, LEFT: Vincentians attending the national assembly in September pause for a photo. From left: John Berry, National Council President USA; Joanne Martone and Natalya Bencivenga, Visitation Conference; and Council General International president Juan Manuel Burrgo Gomez. RIGHT: Vincentians Natalya Bencivenga and Joanne Martone, Visitation Conference, lead the first Vincentian Choir at the national assembly. Courtesy photos
From Staff Reports
When the first-ever national Vincentian chorus filled the Salt Lake City Hyatt Regency during the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s National Assembly, it was a delegate from the Diocese of Trenton who led them.
“Between the voices and music combined with 700 Vincentians, it was a resounding chorus of love,” said Joan Olden, executive director for the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Trenton Diocesan Council.
Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul from the Trenton Diocese joined fellow Vincentians at the SVDP National Assembly Sept. 8-12 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to embrace their worldwide mission to serve those in need and build connections.
The five-day assembly offered meetings, liturgies, workshops and networking. Nine of the many Mid-Atlantic attendees were from the Diocese; some presented, while others led music.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul serves in more than 150 countries. Founded in Paris in 1833 by Blessed Frédéric Ozanam and fellow university students, it works to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, provide clothing and other assistance, and promote social justice and human dignity. The U.S. Society was established Nov. 20, 1845, in St. Louis, Mo., at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France.
The Society counts more than 90,000 volunteers across the United States. The Diocese of Trenton’s 45 parish conferences support communities in Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties with more than 1,500 volunteers.
Music and Ministry
Three Diocese of Trenton Vincentians helped plan liturgies and provide music: Marge McGinley of Sacred Heart Conference, Mount Holly, a National Council Planning Team member; Joanne Martone of Visitation Conference, Brick, founder and leader of the Visitation Youth Conference; and Natalya Bencivenga, music director in Visitation Parish, Brick.
Bencivenga conducted the Vincentian Choir, which drew members from around the country. Martone led a workshop on how Adult Conferences Connect with, Accompany and Empower Youth Conferences, and shared “Blessings of Love,” which she and Bencivenga recorded, with her lyrics and his music. The two also performed at the first-ever SVDP Talent Show.
“Blessings of Love” was inspired by Martone’s experience serving the poor on the streets of New York, Lakewood and Newark. After the song grew popular in the Visitation Parish SVDP conference, she and Bencivenga took the parish choir to a studio to record an English and Spanish CD.
The CD has since been distributed around the country and overseas and is used at liturgies, retreats, meetings and reflection gatherings.
National Stores and Resource Centers
Olden, a parishioner in Visitation Parish, spoke at the assembly on how to start and maintain a national store. While local stores serve community populations, creating a national store in or near New Jersey is “a vision that is becoming a work in progress,” she said.
Funding is the first challenge: eligible properties run 6,000 to 10,000 square feet, and lease and purchase prices are beyond SVDP’s financial means.
“Our development fund is in the infant stage,” Olden explained. “If we found a donor with commercial property, we would certainly be able to consider a smaller space if terms were amenable.”
Given the expense of starting stores, Olden said SVDP has gone to an alternate plan: establishing resource centers.
“This would be a location that would accommodate a smaller thrift shop, pantry and meeting room(s),” she said, pointing to the grand opening of the SVDP Resource Center at St. Peter Claver Conference in Asbury Park, which recently launched its thrift store.
Charlotte Cicchetti, president of the SVDP Trenton Diocesan Council, described the Asbury Park resource center as “a beacon of faith and community to the neighborhood and beyond.”
According to Olden, the resource center “has become critical to the mission of the Society. It would be ideal to have a resource center in each of our districts where neighbors in need have easy access and the general public can easily find us to do their thrift shopping, which is very popular.”
Olden said alerting others to the need for space could be the first step: “The more we put it out there, you never know – someone may just donate something.”
Going beyond addressing the immediate needs of poverty, Cicchetti noted, SVDP Coastal Monmouth County President Mark Warren is implementing a ‘Getting Ahead’ Program at the Outreach Center “to promote systemic change, partnering with our neighbors to identify issues, remove barriers and create lasting improvements to lift them into self-sufficiency.”
If you would like to discuss donation of a property for a resource center or national thrift store, contact Joan Olden, 732-779-6049, joanolden@yahoo.com, or Charlotte Cicchetti, 732-500-5578, charcsvdptrenton@aol.com.
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