A non-profit organization that aids and accommodates individuals in Cape Coral needing assistance is once again sponsoring a walk to benefit its mission.
The fifth annual Walk for the Poor, hosted by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Andrew Conference, takes place next Saturday, Feb. 21, at St. Andrew Catholic Church starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 1 p.m.
The Walk for the Poor fundraiser has raised more than $16,000 each of the last four years, and has raised public awareness of individuals in need in Cape Coral.
“This is a massively important event for us,” said Cape SVdP President Rob Douglas. “All of our money comes from the donations of the parishioners at St. Andrew Catholic Church, along with the occasional grant that we may apply for, but mostly it comes from the parishioners. We have absolutely no paid staff. So the money that’s donated goes directly to the folks in need within the Cape Coral community. Every little bit helps.”
On-site registration for the walk will begin at 9 a.m. in the school cafeteria, or participants can register online prior to the event. Registration is $15.
There is no set distance participants have to walk. They may choose to walk as much or as little as they would like around St. Andrew Church.
“We have people with walkers. We’ve got wheelchairs in the path, kids with wagons, on bicycles. It’s pretty to get out there and see that,” Douglas said.
Douglas said their services are needed more and more as the years pass, especially with the current cost of living. In fiscal year 2025, Cape SVdP processed 1,151 calls from individuals requesting assistance. Thanks to generous parishioners of St. Andrew, as well as grants from other conferences and the SVdP national office, the St. Andrew Conference distributed more than $200,000 in assistance to 548 households, including 641 children -record-breaking numbers for the non-profit. But there is always more work to be done.
“The demand exceeds our ability to meet it,” Douglas said. “Everybody wants to come to Cape Coral because of the canals and the beautiful assets we have down here, but that also means landlords want to charge more for rent. We see young families trying to get started, and their rent goes up, but their salary does not, so they struggle to catch up. We see people who have an issue with their car, medical issues, and then they instantly go to living from paycheck to paycheck. We see older individuals that have been renting for years, and the rate goes up, but they’re on a fixed income that doesn’t increase a whole lot for them to catch up. We do what we can to help with immediate needs. We can’t pay for everything, but we are able to make a big dent in whatever is past due. The demand has just been super high, especially the last year or so.”
CapeSVdP provides financial assistance to neighbors, helping put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, prevent utility (water & electricity) shutoffs, buy much-needed prescriptions, provide bus passes or gas cards so they can get to work, and provide vouchers for furniture, clothing, and household items from its affiliated Cape Coral thrift store.
Cape SVdP official said most of the neighbors who call CapeSVdP for assistance experience short-term challenges, such as illnesses/injuries that prevent them from working or having to stay home from work to take care of loved ones, unexpected bills for car repairs, home repairs, and more. Cape SVdP steps in to provide an expedient support bridge to get them back on their feet.
“The other reason we hold the walk is to offer awareness that a lot of people think Cape Coral is a very affluent area, and it is,” Douglas said. “But just within a mile or two of that the church that we’re in, we’ve helped so many people. You should see a scatter map of all the homes that we’ve helped within the Cape Coral community, it’s pretty extensive.”
Cape SVdP helps anyone and everyone they can in-need, regardless of their religious beliefs or culture.
“We’ve helped everybody,” Douglas said. “We’ve helped atheists -self- professed atheists — we’ve helped Wiccans, we’ve helped, you name it. We provide help to anybody who asks for it.”
Douglas said it’s amazing to see the impact the non-profit makes, as it gives a tangible experience for those involved.
“It’s so gratifying to be able to take a call on Monday and give them a call on Tuesday, go visit with them, and then pay that bill for them the same day,” he said, noting all that they serve are open to prayer. “(Regardless of their beliefs), they all said, ‘sure, absolutely, please.’ And those are the ones that just get to you, particularly, as we pray, they start to tear up and by the time we’re leaving, they’re giving us big bear hugs. And that’s so gratifying.”
Douglas emphasized that the ability to make such a direct impact in people’s lives is why those interested in volunteering should do so.
“I go to their home,” he said. “That’s the other thing we do — we do home visits. We don’t ask them to come to us. We don’t ask them to fill out a bunch of forms. We don’t ask them to do all these other things that these other government organizations do. We go directly to their homes where they feel the most comfortable. By being there and seeing what they’re going through, how they are living, and the fact that their shelves are empty, there’s nothing in the refrigerator, we can help more.”
Those interested in walking or making donation can visit www.go.rallyup.com/capesvdp.
St. Andrew Catholic Church is at 2628 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com