The St. Vincent de Paul store in Plymouth, 2225 Eastern Ave., will have special offerings on Sept. 24 to celebrate 60 years. (Submitted photo)

For 60 years, the Plymouth Conference of St. John the Baptist (SJB) St. Vincent de Paul has served the community.

On Sunday, Sept. 26, the organization will celebrate the anniversary of its parish’s affiliation with the SVDP Society with Mass at 9:30 a.m., officiated by Fr. Philip Reifenberg. The Mass will be celebrated close to the Sept. 27 feast day of St. Vincent de Paul, the patron saint of all Christian charities.

St. John the Baptist parish priest Fr. Lawrence Waleski served as the conference’s first spiritual director when the organization began in November 1961. Over the years, the organization has offered temporary and long-term assistance, provided food, financial aid, clothing, utility assistance and job training, and more.

Additionally, the SVDP retail store provides needed funds to support the organization’s works, in addition to donations and benefactors from St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas Aquinas in Elkhart Lake.

In the past 12 years, St. John the Baptist’s St. Vincent de Paul Conference has provided more than $700,000 of financial assistance to more than 2,300 families.

According to Lee Schneider, who began with St. Vincent de Paul eight years ago, the SVDP Society offers much more to the community than a retail store and financial assistance. Among those offerings are a winter outerwear program for school-age children, taking Holy Eucharist to assisted living facilities and the homebound, and providing volunteer opportunities for local high school students.

Schneider began his involvement because there was a need for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to bring Holy Communion to nursing homes and the homebound. He first started as an associate member and has served as an active member for the past three years.

The Conference of St. John the Baptist SVDP Society is one of eight conferences serving individuals and families in Sheboygan County. There are more than 44,000 conferences with more than 800,000 members in more than 150 countries worldwide. In the U.S., there are nearly 98,000 members in 4,500 conferences.

To mark their 60 years, the SVDP Community Thrift Store will host a fundraising brat fry, bake sale and day of special store promotions from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24. All proceeds will go to the outreach department for families in need.