Four resign at St. Vincent, new dining hall coming to Youngstown
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
On the same day Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley announced it would open a soup kitchen next year, St. Vincent de Paul Society Mahoning County’s board accepted the resignations of its president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.
“There was a St. Vincent de Paul long before any of these officers, and I am confident there will be one long after,” said resigning Treasurer Joseph P. Gorman Jr.
Wednesday, society board members and others gathered for the society’s December meeting at the dining hall. Within an hour, the four resignations had been accepted, a temporary president was named and discussion was heard. Resignations effective Wednesday and accepted were: Brian Antal, president; Richard Lewis, vice president; and Gary Russo, secretary. Gorman’s resignation, also accepted, will be effective Dec. 31.
The board appointed Tom Williams, president of St. Joseph Parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society conference, acting president. He will appoint a nominating committee to search for candidates for president, Dick Reimbold told those at the meeting.
“We will get the job done some how,” said Reimbold, who is regional vice president of the Mideast for the National Council of the U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul. “We will get through this.”
Also Wednesday, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley announced it had received a $750,000 donation from an anonymous donor to construct a new feeding site at 551 Mahoning Ave. The kitchen, which will be run by former St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen Manager Ralph “Skip” Barone, will open by the second quarter of next year. It will be called Skip’s Cafe and will be the first soup kitchen operated by a food bank in Ohio.
“This is totally unique to the Mahoning Valley and the state of Ohio,” said Mike Iberis, Second Harvest Food Bank executive director. “It will offer another option in the area.”
Barone, who resigned from St. Vincent’s late last month, is both proud and humbled by the experience to run the cafe.
“It is all geared toward community and a safe welcoming, warm environment for people who are down and out, people who are in need,” he said.
The discussion that took place during St. Vincent’s meeting Wednesday happened in the same dining hall that has been a topic of discussion in the community for several weeks. During the week of Nov. 30, the dining hall, a main source of lunch for the working poor and homeless, closed because of personnel issues. The Friday before the closure, Barone put in his resignation.
Shortly after the closure, Antal, now former president, was criticized by volunteers and others for his leadership. At question were new policies and procedures the board voted in and Antal enforced, which some felt didn’t support St. Vincent’s mission.
The concern led the Diocese of Youngstown to gather the presidents of area St. Vincent de Paul Society conferences and discuss the leadership of the Mahoning Council with the National Council.
The kitchen reopened with new manager Wayne Murray, and later Antal sent out his resignation letter.
Gorman says Antal felt the society would carry out its charitable role better if it were run more like a business.
“Brian Antal and I both were aware that the informal policies and procedures practiced by the society in previous years had caused some serious problems, including the theft from the Thrift Store and the suspension of the Pantry from Second Harvest Food Bank shortly before I started to volunteer there,” Gorman said in a statement. “Brian tried to formalize some of these policies and institute some normal business practices.”
Gorman was aware Antal’s personality had caused problems, but he is not happy with the way Antal’s resignation happened.
The “crisis” the society is facing started when Antal tried to implement a policy that was adopted at the board’s November meeting to not let wrapped meals go out of the dining hall, Gorman explained.
Gorman reached out to the National Council and asked if Antal could defend himself or if he could speak on behalf of Antal. Gorman was told the side he offered “puts a different light on what we have been told. There is still Brian’s attitude and the bridges he has burned to be considered and whether he can recover.”
To conclude the meeting, the Rev. David J. Bergner, vicar for social concerns at the diocese, thanked those there for their honesty with one another.
“I can pledge to you [Bishop George V. Murry’s] support and our support at Catholic Charities whenever we can assist,” he said. “We are here for you and look forward to working with you.”