St. Vincent de Paul Press Conference
Brian J. Antal, president of the local St. Vincent de Paul Society, discusses the society's position on political visits.
YOUNGSTOWN — The president of Mahoning County’s St. Vincent de Paul Society says the agency has taken a financial hit after his criticism of Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s visit to the soup kitchen made national news.
“The amount of people who called and said they were donors who would stop contributing is substantial,” said Brian J. Antal, who runs the society.
When asked for specifics, Antal said “donations are private,” but of the people who’ve called, “dozens have identified themselves” and are donors.
Ryan visited the soup kitchen last Saturday.
The woman who coordinates the dining hall for the poor gave Paul’s campaign permission to have the candidate and his family visit the facility.
Ryan ran late and missed the breakfast crowd. His campaign asked that a few pots and pans be kept dirty so Ryan and his family could be photographed cleaning them, said Juanita Sherba, St. Vincent’s Saturday coordinator for the dining hall.
In the last few days, Antal said the critical calls have been overtaken by those who support the organization with some offering to contribute money.
For the complete story, read Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com
Comments
Juanita, you invited him in and then thru him under the bus. By doing what you did you deserve what you get. I stopped donating and will give my donations to another organization.
The only people that will be hurt are those that need it most. I will be writing my check to St. Vincent de Paul knowing that people are more important then politics.
For every action there is a equal and opposite reaction. Mr antal should of thought this through and maybe talked to his supervisors first instead of the press. Now he needs to let the washington post and other agencies he notified that he needs money because people who USED to donate no longer want to donate to a political organization
Juanita Sherba is solely reposible for the drying up of funds here. Antal isnt too far away from blame either.
They were blinded by their presonal political beliefs and it is hurting others as a result.
That said....
Is there a place to donate online?
I dont believe that the hungry should suffer simply because two people acted like complete and total morons.
I feel sorry for the organization but those two lamebrains should be let go and I think everything will be fine. What a political trap they layed. Juanita baited him and Antler hooked him. I wonder if any democratic politicians ever stepped in that place. Should they still be considered a charitable organization? You know if Obama showed up Juanita and Antler would probably get a bus and drive everyone to vote early for the second time. But you have to be careful with Ryan, he'll ramrod you. lol!
Some people in this valley are very petty.
It is sad to see people react without thinking. If you would like to donate, here is your chance:
http://www.indiegogo.com/svdp-soupkit...
Donations have reached over $8500 in the last 24 hours. St. Vincent's is not forgotten.
Again in the valley people can do as they want with no repercussions When these two are gone I will gladly donate again. The used the name of St Vincent DePaul for political gains and we just say oh well give them more money.
This article says nothing. Useless political see saw paper filler.
Did people stop donating because of Republican candidate there or was it because Antal lied and turned the visit into political hay?
We'll never get a straight story.
I'll donate to them when Antal is muzzled and corrects the error of ways. Independent voter, sorry pal, the Washington Times proved he's been voting Democrat since the 1990's.
by the way if you post anything about what really happened on the above links from shot your comments are immediatly removed. Also links are prohibited on vindy.com so I made sure that was reported.
It is difficult to believe that this story has spiraled out of control.
The citizens of Mahoning County have lost sight of the the needy and made this a political agenda.
Truly sad.
I think they should lose tax exempt status and be classfied as political entity. I make sure all my neighbors know of the political afflitation of st vincent
I'm surprised Ryan even got near poor people. I'm sure he washed his hands several times to make sure he didn't catch poverty while he was there.
This only spiraled out of control because of the 2 morons going to the media. This never should've hit the national media. Next time, they should just shut their mouths and let things be what they are. No reason whatsoever to go to the media over something this stupid.
No reason for anyone to know how petty and fake Ryan is... Nothing to see here, move it along.
Whoa,
NO ONE SHOULD DONATE TO THAT WEBSITE THAT SHOT_IN_YOUNGSTOWN LINKED ABOVE AS IT IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE ST VINCENT DEPAUL SOCIETY IN ANY WAY. IT IS A PERSONALLY SET UP LINK FROM A SITE THAT INDIVIDUALS CAN USE TO RAISE MONEY AND THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT THE MONEY YOU DONATE WILL ACTUALLY GET TO THE ST VINCENT DEPAUL SOCIETY.
IF YOU WANT TO DONATE, CONTACT THE LOCATION ITSELF (330) 746-4004.
VINDY EDITORS, PLEASE REMOVE THAT LINK!!!!!!
I hope Mr. Antel learned something from this ''grandstanding'' stunt.
Mr. Antel is media hungry whore. Are you going to tell me that king obama never does photo ops. Give me a break.
Second Harvest can always use the donations. Thats who I shifted my money to.
Second Harvest is a wonderful organization.
Over $12,000 were raised in less then 48 hours. Thanks to these donations volunteers can continue feeding the hungry.