It’s been a little over a year since the Perryville Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul announced plans to expand its nonprofit thrift store after acquiring the American Legion Colonnade building and 1.3 acres of land at 312 N. Jackson Street in the summer of 2022.
On Oct. 23, around 50 people gathered at the site for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction by the Zoellner Construction Co. of Perryville.
Following the opening prayer given by Fr. Joseph Geders, C.M, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul parish, Andy Graf, president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, addressed the crowd.
“So, today’s the day,” he said. “Today, our dream comes true. We break ground for the thrift store, which is phase one of our capital campaign. Once we finish the campaign, phase two is to put a warehouse behind this building, and then we will have one complex that has everything on it that the society represents.
A special welcome to any donors that might be present because this is a community effort. The society has collected donations from businesses and individuals. That’s how we’re paying for this. “A special welcome to our thrift store workers, our thrift store volunteers, and our society members that are here today. Thank you to our thrift store shoppers. There are some shoppers here today. They just wanted to see it because they’ve been asking, and asking, and asking. I have to give a shout-out to the Missouri Department of Economic Development and their Neighborhood Assistance Program. It played a big part in making this happen. So, thank you, State of Missouri. A very special welcome to those who started this organization in 1996. I don’t know who all’s here, but I see a few.”
After recognizing several people in the crowd, Graf shared the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s mission statement — to build a network of friends inspired by gospel values, grow in holiness and build a more just world through personal relationships.
“If you ever go to the thrift store, you’ll see personal relationships,” he said. “All the cashiers are always talking and saying hello, and just so many things. There’s a lot of communication going on in that thrift store, and we help a lot of people who wander in that need a few items. So, I just want to throw a couple of numbers at you because we just finished our fiscal year. We helped 360 people in the thrift store with clothing and furniture in the last 12 months. We assisted over 500 families with over $200,000 to pay for rent and utilities, car repair and such. We’ve had personal, person-to-person contact, either by phone or with people dropping by our distribution center or by the thrift store — 1,476 people we have talked to this year, spreading the word.
“And for the volunteers that work in the back of the shop, we have driven 4,775 miles this year to visit families and to log banana boxes from warehouse to warehouse. And our volunteers and our fellow Vincentians — you logged in 15,600 hours because you care. Last but not least, we have to thank the community of Perry County for continually dropping off clothing and items at the back of the thrift store. If there weren’t people dropping off their gently used goods, none of this would have happened. So, ultimately, it goes back to the Perry County community. So, thank you very much.”
After noting that the “revitalizing” of the upstairs thrift shop offices had been completed, Graf invited everyone to tour the facilities after the ceremony. “The exterior looks really bad,” he said, “but part of this whole deal is it’s going to be repainted to match the building. So, it will blend in.”
Graf introduced Zoellner Construction Co. CEO Matt Zoellner to speak to the crowd about overseeing the process of building an addition to the store. He went over the basic layout of the new structure and spoke about when the building would be completed. “We’re hoping to start in about two weeks,” he said. “I’m waiting on a building permit for the city. We still have some things to line out. Hopefully, construction will take about six months. We should have the foundation and framing up before winter, hopefully before the weather gets us, and then probably slow down for a little bit and finish sometime next May.”
The ceremony concluded with nine members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul board shoveling dirt, symbolizing the start of construction.
In recognition of the groundbreaking ceremony, Perryville Mayor Larry Riney issued the following statement: “The Vincentian Order can trace its origin back to Perry County when St. Mary’s of the Barrens became the first seminary west of the Mississippi, and the first college approved by the state assembly to provide college credits. Since their founding, the Vincentians have sought to love those who are poor, impoverished, or otherwise struggling. In recent decades, Andy Graf, his board and the St. Vincent de Paul Society have made true on this mission. We are very proud of our relationship with the thrift store and look forward to many more decades to come.”
