Major Programs At St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent DePaul Portland from PCMA on Vimeo.The Portland Council was the subject of a video produced by Brian Harris of the Portland Center for the Media Arts (PCMA). The video was released in late September 2012, and runs for about 5-1/2 minutes. The video provides both live footage and expert narratives from our Executive Director and senior staff covering our 3 major programs: the Food Recovery Network, the Mobile Kitchen and the Emergency Services office.

Food Recovery Network

We take a lot of overproduced food from hospitals and restaurants and bring it back on site. We repackage it, label it and freeze it, and make it available to our partners who have feeding programs and food pantries.

The Mobile Kitchen

We have a 1992 blue bird school bus and it is a fully operating restaurant on wheels.  We send it out to rural communities in Clackamas and Washington counties, and offer a free community meal.  We cook on it, we feed people on it, and it has café style seating inside.

Each site has a group of volunteers that assists with the cooking and the serving.  It is our traveling billboard!  Communities are able to sit and visit over a wonderful hot meal.

We love the Mobile Kitchen because people just light up when they see it.  Anyone can board this bus to eat if they are hungry!

For More information check out our Mobile Kitchen Page

Emergency Services Office

Emergency Services provides emergency financial assistance with rent, utilites, cold weather clothing, and sometimes local transportation in the form of bus tickets.  We help 30 families a day.

Our staff meets with each individual.  People come in frustrated, angry, and anxious because they are not sure where to turn and how much we will be able to assist.  Families hope we can assist with a full utility bill or all of the rent, but sometimes the bills are just too high.

Our work never stops, we love what we do and no one does it better.  We want to be able to help everyone, but we have to stop each day at 30 families because we simply don’t have the resources.  You can help by making a small donation of financial or volunteer support.