Friends of the Poor Walk
Mary Jo Koch of Butler has had hip replacement surgery and needs a walker or a cane if she's going far. But she didn't see why that would stop her from participating in Saturday's Friends of the Poor Walk for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“It just takes me a little more time than the others,” said Koch.
“I like to support St. Vincent de Paul,” she added.
The society runs a thrift store, food bank and provides other assistance.
Nearly 40 walkers, including Koch, gathered in the parking lot of the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank, 157 Elm St., at 11 a.m., then walked up Brady Street to Main Street to the Butler County Courthouse, then across Main Street to Diamond Park for a prayer and down the other side of Main Street and back to the food bank.
“This is the third year for the walk,” said Paula Dorsch of Butler, the coordinator of the event. “We do it to raise awareness of what the Society of St. Vincent de Paul does for the community.”Carol Patrick of Forward Township brought her Labradoodle, Sadie, along for the walk.“Paula's my friend. We do a lot together. I'm out here for support,” said Patrick.The walk raises awareness for the participants, too, according to Deacon Mitch Natali, who prayed the rosary at Diamond Park.“The walk is important. The more senses you involve in something, the more important it becomes,” he said.Dorsch said the walk also raises money for the society through the sale of raffle tickets.
She said with the approaching holiday season the call will go out from pulpits of Butler's Roman Catholic churches to contribute to a holiday food drive.It will be welcome, said Lew Czzowitz, the manager of the St. Vincent de Paul food bank.“We serve between 550 and 600 families,” he said. “As it starts to get colder, the numbers go up.”The food bank supplies the families with food once a month once recipients provide proof of residence and number of family members.Anyone, no matter what religion, is welcome to use the food bank, Czzowitz said.
