The St Vincent de Paul Society is an international charitable organisation dedicated to helping people in need. It is Catholic in character and open to all people of goodwill with a genuine desire to help others. Founded in France in 1833, the Society was started in New Zealand in 1867. The Levin Conference has its origins back in the early 1900's and today is part of the Kapi-Mana Area Council, with Levin being one of five Conferences operating from Tawa to Levin. 

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As members of the Society, we are called both individually and as a collective to grow in our spirituality - our love and commitment to Christ and through him to the Father. As our love of God grows/strengthens /matures etc so des our love for our fellow man which results in an outflow of attending to the needs of those on the "outer" in whatever form that might take. 

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This is not a "one off" event but a continual process of growth resulting in taking the "hand of Christ" to those that we come in contact with - those who are in need one way or another - thus fulfilling the greatest commandment to love God and love our neighbour. 

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We do this through our work at a local level, providing service to people suffering from poverty whether materials, emotional, spiritual, or physical. Our focus is on helping people to get back on their feet and achieve independence. We believe in always treating people with respect, goodwill, and generosity of spirit. We are a grassroots organisation which seeks to demonstrate compassion and social concern for the needy in our community. 

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We are a fully volunteer organisation with our work being funded predominantly by donations of funds, food, clothing, household goods and volunteers' goodwill, time and commitment to helping others in need. 

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The Kapi-Mana Area opened a Vincentian Centre in Levin in April 2022, which included a Vinnies Shop, a meeting/drop in Centre and also houses the Foodbank which began some years ago. The focus is to reach further out to the margins of our local community in an effort to meet the growing needs and the impact of the deteriorating socioeconomic situation that we are facing. 

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A snapshot of some of the help we provide includes:

Support to local families under stress; providing materials assistance - food, transport, clothing, furniture, etc; visiting people in need; supporting migrants; Foodbank; Vinnies shop providing quality at minimal prices; winter firewood supply; advocacy support with WINZ; support services from Catholic Social Services, and cooperation with a number of local community based organisations. 

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The mantra of St Vincent de Paul is that no work of charity is foreign to the society. It includes any form of help that alleviates suffering or deprivation and promotes human dignity and personal integrity in all their dimensions. As a general rule - we are open to helping anyone in need with a hand up. 

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Bernie Hanaray

President

St Vincent de Paul Society - Levin conference

Email: bahanaray@hotmail.com

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Vincentian Centre

7-9 Prouse Street, Levin

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Vinnies Shop Opens: Tuesday-Saturday (10am-3pm)

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Read more about our Community Impact Support for the Horowhenua Region Here​​​

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