Ray Sweet & Ray Lopez from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Los Angeles

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Today’s Born To Talk Radio Show Podcast featured Ray Sweet, President of the Board of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Los Angeles and Ray Lopez, Camp Director at the Circle V Ranch Camp.

St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles is a Catholic volunteer organization that serves the poor and homeless of any religion for free.

The “Rays” share more than just a first name. Ray Sweet was a child when he attended Circle V Ranch Camp. Ray Lopez started his experience there as a counselor in 1993.

The Show.

Ray Sweet shares the history of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles including their motto. “No act of charity is foreign to the society.”

One of the many services they provide is the Cardinal Manning Center. This is a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row area that offers a comprehensive program for adult men experiencing homelessness. They have Emergency Men’s Transition and Day Center Community Services. Ray will also be talking about the impact they are having in the counties, of Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.

For those that would like to donate, you can contact them directly at 800-974-3571. If you would like to volunteer, their general information number is 888-552-7872.

Ray Lopez tells us about the Whittier Wildfire on day 4 of camp in July of 2017 that scorched the Santa Barbara County in Los Padres National Forest, where the Circle V Ranch Camp is located.

The evacuation of campers and staff is a heroic story. Fortunately, no one was injured as flames were clearly visible. Imagine that experience. They did temporarily lose their water treatment building. The good news is, the camp will be up and running this July for 500 campers over 4 sessions. The campers are from ages 7-13 and there is also a teen leadership program for campers 14-17. This transformative 6-day 5-night program could not be possible without the ongoing partial and full scholarships provided to 95% of those attending.

These happy faces say it all.