By Matthew St. Amand
It’s amazing what a man with a truck can accomplish.
LaSalle resident, Joe Vaillancourt, has volunteered his time and resources in the service of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul for the past 53 years.
“At one time, I was bringing the trucks every weekend to a church,” Joe says, speaking of the unending work of collecting clothing and furniture donated to St. Vincent de Paul. “I covered twenty-six weekends. It takes an hour to get the truck to the church, then someone to bring you back to your car. Some weekends, we had doubles—four hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday!”
As it turns out, trucks are integral to the flow of donations being made to St. Vincent de Paul.
“There are only two donations’ bins in the City of Windsor due to bylaws—one of them by Holy Name of Mary Church on McEwan in the west end,” Joe says. “People need a place to put the stuff. That is where the trucks come in. We will even do house pick-ups for furniture and clothing.”
The people of Essex County are generous. The donations never stop flowing in. It is heartening to see how many people want to help, but the reality of physically transporting and processing those donations is where Joe’s good work comes into play.
Joe grew up in Riverside before it was annexed by Windsor on Jan. 1, 1966. He attended Harry E. Guppy High School of Commerce at 441 Tecumseh Road East, which became Catholic Central High School in recent years.
He worked for a time for his parents’ promotion business, which organized fundraisers and entertainment for service clubs, such as the Moose Lodge.
“My dad was president of the Riverside Kiwanis Club and Riverside Chamber of Commerce,” Joe recalls.
Joe’s charitable work began in 1970 when he attended St. Paul the Apostle Church and frequented its youth group.
“We visited nursing homes, and things like that,” Joe says. “One day, someone said to me: ‘I have to go to a meeting downtown.’ It was at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at 357 Pitt Street, where the Casino is now. During the meeting, I thought: ‘Jeez, I’m really interested in this.’ Probably because I was older, thinking more about their operations. I liked it. I was their secretary, recording their meetings. From there, I got involved with their Provincial Council as secretary for two five-year terms, around the province and around the country.”
In 1988, Joe took a truck driving job with Fastener Center on Howard Avenue. He remained involved with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“When we run out of clothes, we’ll go to places like Glencoe, and we’ve gone as far as Dunnville,” Joe said. “I’ve helped with conferences, bundle drives at churches—parking a truck outside so people bringing in their clothing in have a place to donate.”
Depending on the day, Joe and his truck can be found at Sacred Heart parish, St. Paul’s parish, and St. Joseph’s parish, collecting clothes and furniture.
In 2017, Joe received the Citizen of the Year award in LaSalle from then-mayor Ken Antaya.
In 2020, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul recognized Joe’s efforts as a volunteer over the course of the past 50 years.
For anyone thinking about volunteering, but are unsure how to get involved, Joe has some pretty simple advice: “ Just contact St. Vincent de Paul or their own local church.”
Regarding his 53 years of volunteer service, Joe reflects: “I have met a lot of nice people along the way, in Windsor, across the province, and across Canada.”
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