The Society of St. Vincent de Paul helps make the holidays the most wonderful time of the year for many Arizonans who do not have the abundance of others.

While The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) celebrates this special time, they believe “Every day is Thanksgiving.”

Built on the principles of being able to “feed, clothe, house, and heal” all those in need as well as “giving people the opportunity to serve”, SVDP works year-round to create opportunities to share gratitude and provide for those who need their support.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is one of the largest international charity organizations in the world.

Since 1946, they have made many forms of aid possible for Arizonans—including services such as charity dining rooms, food boxes, medical and dental care, transitional housing and emergency shelter beds, pet care, and much more.

SVDP receives minimal government funding but mainly relies on donations and partnerships from corporations, foundations, and individual generosity.

Northeast Valley News spoke with Jessica Berg, SVDP’s Chief Program Officer, who said, “The broad mix of support is essential for the continuation of their operations.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul takes pride in the community they have created.

“We do everything with volunteers,” Berg said. “We have folks who might come once or a few times a year and then we have folks who come at least once a week for over a decade. So, it’s a beautiful mix.”

With around 42 million people in the U.S. recently losing or at risk of losing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to the government shutdown, along with a battle over states deciding to provide necessary food benefits versus the federal government’s order to halt assistance—many Arizonans are beginning to worry about basic food security.

In the face of this uncertainty, SVDP remains steady and hopeful in its mission.

“We’re just continuing to do what we do every day,” Berg said.

This means serving 4,500-5,000 meals a day, along with their work in the aforementioned programs, in order to continue to provide for those in need.

Help doesn’t solely come from the organization itself—many individual Arizonans have begun to answer the call of need.

“That is the other thing that’s happened with the announcement about the break in the SNAP benefits, is people saying, ‘How can I help? I need to do something.”

Berg said they serve as a “Conduit in the community, to be able to help, and when people want to make a difference or want to know what to do.”

SVDP has recently created a new program in order to help with the rising demand for food.

Feeding Our Neighbors Together (FONT) “Is a statewide food drive and its main idea is to raise an additional 2.5 million dollars towards food, an additional 500,000 pounds of food to help with that need.”

They (FONT) is currently “Working on partnering with organizations and groups throughout the whole state.”

Throughout the month of November, SVDP also has its Thanksgiving food drives on top of its regular operations.

A tradition since 1992, SVDP has partnered with multiple businesses to raise money for Turkey Tuesday the largest one-day turkey drive in the nation, on November 25.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 12News, Bashas’, Food City, and AJ’s Fine Foods are working together to reach their goal of raising over $200,000 to provide Thanksgiving meals to those in need and to keep the holiday traditions alive and thriving.

“It’s a really fun day where folks just get so involved and [it] really helps us to provide that support,” Berg told Northeast Valley News.

“It’s really important to us, that creating joy for people. We’re more functional when we can feel joy and we can accomplish more. We can make better decisions. It just is really important to bring that to folks, joy and hope as much as we can.”

This joy flows into operations on Thanksgiving Day as well. Volunteers at SVDP gather to serve around 5,000 Thanksgiving meals consisting of roasted turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, herbed stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.

SVDP has also partnered with the Champions for the Homeless, where Nick Lowery and other NFL players will serve food on Thanksgiving and have live music and engaging festivities.

Berg, who has personally attended these events before, attests to the fun atmosphere,

“I don’t know who has a better time, the folks we’re serving or the folks that are there as volunteers.”

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has planned many large-scale and exciting events for the month of November, but remains humble and straightforward in its gratitude.

“We’re only able to do all this with the generosity of the community,” Berg said.

“We just welcome all and are so grateful for that volunteer support, not only on Thanksgiving, but absolutely every day of the year.”