International Twinning, Council of the United States

 

Participant Requirements

  • All Councils and Conferences involved in Twinning must be instituted and aggregated respectively.

  • Receiving Conferences can only have one Donor Twin.  However, because of the large number of Conferences and/or Councils in need, Donor Conferences and/or Councils are encouraged to support more than one Twin.
     
  • All requests for Twinning must be directed through the Twinning Coordinator of the National Council.


Three Commitments to International Twinning

 


What is International Twinning?

 In keeping with the vision of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam to create a network of charity around the world, the National Council of the United States, Society of St. Vincent de Paul offers an International Twinning program, whereby one Conference or Council in the United States reaches out to help another Conference or Council in countries lacking resources to conduct their works of charity.

Although United States Vincentians have been actively Twinning with needy overseas Conferences and Councils since 1960, it was in 1979 that Twinning was declared an official fundamental activity of the Society, as the Council General in Paris requested that all nations establish Twinning Committees at all Council levels.

The plea to American Vincentians was that Twinning funds, whenever possible, be derived from the personal sacrifices in food and luxuries of the members and friends of the Society so that in a symbolic way, they may share the poverty of the poor and needy around the world.

Which countries are available for International Twinning?

Council General International (CGI) designates certain donor National Councils to be the Twin in specified countries because of the language, proximity, cultural and historical links and other appropriate reasons.

The United States has been named as the lead country for the Americas, which encompasses Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

How does the process work?

• 
Submit an application to the National Council.
• 
Upon approval, contributing Councils and/or Conferences
will receive written notification to include their Twinning partners’ contact information as well as the International Twinning guidelines.
• 
Contributions are sent on a quarterly basis from the National Council of the United States via bank wire. The National Council absorbs the bank wire fees, so your contribution in its entirety is forwarded to your twinning partner.
• 
Contributions are wired to the National Council in the receiving country, who is responsible for distributing the funds to the receiving Conferences. To ensure accountability, receiving National Councils are required to report to the National Council in St. Louis and CGI in Paris in order to continue to receive twinning funds.
• 
Direct communication from your twin is expected within
3 months of the sent date.

How to get started:

For more information on the International Twinning program, contact;
Elizabeth Martinez
International Twinning Coordinator
Email:emartinez@svdpusa.org
Phone: 314-576-3993 ext 225

 - OR -

Download the Application For International Twinning
(found in the Twinning Downloads section on the right)
Complete the application and forward to the National Council for approval;
National Council of the United States, Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Attn: International Twinning 58 Progress Parkway Maryland Heights, MO 63043-3706
Email: emartinez@svdpusa.org
 Fax: 314-576-6755

Through Twinning Vincentians Are...

Twinning Downloads