Motto of the Ladies of Charity

To serve rather than be served in humility, simplicity and charity

Our Mission

Our mission is to serve the poor and needy in the local area. We also help support many local charities.

Today, Ladies of Charity, under the banner of the Association of International Charities, are organized in 52 countries and number over 200,000. The national organization Ladies of Charity of the United States was founded in 1960. The purpose of the Association is to imitate the Divine Savior in serving the poor, particularly the sick and those most in need, and bringing them corporal and spiritual nourishment. 

The Ladies of Charity of Harker Heights, Texas Association

The purpose of the Ladies of Charity of Harker Heights shall be to honor Our Lord Jesus Christ as the source and model of all charity. By imitating him in all their endeavors, the members will seek sanctification for themselves ad others as they practice the virtues of humility, simplicity and charity when they serve the sick and lonely and when they provide for the spiritual and corporal welfare of the poor and need of the community.

The association is an exclusively charitable corporation.

Membership

Membership in the Ladies of Charity of Harker Heights is open to all women interested in the furtherance of their spiritual development by visiting and serving the poor and most in need in our local community.

Dues are $10.00 per year. Meetings are held monthly on the second Saturday, beginning at 9:00 am with a Mass at Saint Paul Chong Hasang Catholic Church and the meeting/brunch in the Parish Center immediately following.

Why Join and Attend the Meetings?

St. Vincent de Paul started it all with regular meetings to pray, exchange ideas and for instruction and mutual support on doing their work. Each of us learns to be part of the organization by coming together. Other reasons for attending the meetings are:

• We come together in friendship to support others and be supported
• Official business to take care of in a timely way
• Service of the poor, learn how others find and give loving service
• Resources, to be accountable to the group for use of resources
• To set goals in solving the great needs of those most vulnerable
• Support is the greatest gift in the ups and downs of giving service to others
• Membership is increased as others witness what is being done
• Opportunities for leadership within the local, regional and national offices

How We Help Meet the local Needs

• Ladies of Charity Thrift Store In helping the poor and most in need we own and operate the Ladies of Charity Thrift Store located at 105 South Ann Boulevard, Harker Heights, TX 76548. We welcome volunteers to give at least one hour a week to help with folding, pricing, customer service, sorting, etc. This is our largest source of income in helping those most vulnerable and volunteers are always needed.
• Holiday Bazaar – This annual bazaar is our largest fundraiser and brings together the talents of our membership, generous local businesses, parishioners and friends of the Ladies of Charity for a two day event to kick off the holiday season.
• Spring Event- an annual event featuring a style show and silent auction and luncheon

• Bereavement Committee for the Parish- (receptions after funerals)
• Social Ministry for the Parish – (all social receptions for parish)
• Nursing Home, year round, ministry – Sewing buttons, mending once a month. Providing personal care items most needed.
• Sewing Group – Items for the Holiday Bazaar, Prayer Shawls, Quilts, etc.
• Rosary making – For the missions
• Junior Ladies of Charity is young women of Grammar, High School and College age who are engaged in Christian Service on behalf of the Association of the Ladies of Charity.
• Outreach to members (calls, visits and cards to sick, birthdays, etc.)
• Newsletter to members – latest information on local, regional and national Ladies of Charity as well as parish and diocesan news.

Our Spiritual Advisor is Father Richard O’Rourke and our Sister Moderator is Sister Hermana Hoelscher.

‘Those who love the poor during life will have nothing to fear at the hour of their death.” Saint Vincent de Paul

A little bit of History – St. Vincent DePaul

                 The year 1617 was a turning point in the life of Vincent de Paul, paving the way for two of his foundations of charity. In both of these, women played a decisive role. At that time Vincent was serving as chaplain to the family of Count de Gondi, an owner of a galley of slaves. In 1617 Vincent turned away from the household to become a parish priest of Chatillon-les-Dombes. A friend, Francoise Bachet, who a few weeks later discovered a family so ill that none could care for the others, reported their needs to Vincent de Paul as he was vesting for Sunday Mass.

His heartfelt sermon on charity led to an afternoon meeting, followed by such an outpouring of charity that the family was overwhelmed with food and visitors that day.

St. Vincent realized that it is not enough to be generous and personal, it must also be organized.  On August 23, 1617 he called a meeting of the women in the parish. They agreed to form an association in which each would take her turn in serving the sick and poor, both corporally and spiritually.

Vincent had a passion for the poor and a genius for networking and organizing others to meet the full range of needs, both material and spiritual, of those who live on the margins of society. St. Vincent DePaul (1581-1660) was not only the founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) but also the Daughters of Charity, the Confraternities of Charity and Ladies of Charity (1617).

A man of deep faith and enormous creativity, he is known as the "father of the poor" and "Universal Patron of Charity". His contributions to the education of priests and services for the poor shaped our church's role in the modern world. Our vocation is to go not into one parish, nor into only one diocese, but throughout the earth. And to do what? To inflame the hearts of men. It is not enough for me to love God if my neighbor does not love him as well. (May 30, 1659 - SV 12: 262)

Photos of our Ladies of Charity in Action:

  
Ladies of Charity Harker Heights Donna Perry and Debbie Ponce receive a grant check at the National Ladies of Charity Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee awarded to our Association for Thrift Store remodeling. 

Members of the sewing group include (from left to right) JoAnn Gelsthorpe. Pat Beseda, Margot Nauta, Cres Laureta, Sylvia Schnapp (president) Penny Szeman and Luci Stefek.

Lady of Charity Precious Taguinod models a stunning fashion from Dillards at the Spring Style Show and Silent Auction. 

Lady of Charity Delores Martinez assists children at the Kid’s craft table at the 2010 Holiday Bazaar. 

The Ladies of Charity at the October 2010 meeting celebrated Father Richard O’Rourke’s 50^th Anniversary in his order of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
 

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