The 2020 recipient of the Caritas Award for Catholic Charities ND says it was her parents who planted the seed of helping others and that value has remained throughout her life.
"My parents were the first to instill in me the importance of being active in the church. Mom was always baking pies," said Marci Loomis of her mother’s various kind acts.
Loomis will be recognized for her contributions to the Society of the St. Vincent de Paul—Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Conference at a special May 11 luncheon and award ceremony at Spirit of Life in Mandan. The annual award by Catholic Charities ND is given to those who exemplify the bringing of faith, hope and love to the least of God’s people. Its presentation was delayed last year due to the COVID pandemic.
Loomis served as the first president of the conference at the Cathedral for the first two terms, nearly six years and is now the group’s treasurer.
“Thanks to her and the other Vincentians, hundreds of people in the Bismarck/Mandan area have been able to remain in their homes, had utilities, water and heat restored and have been able to purchase critical medicine, received gas for vehicles,” Cathedral’s Deacon Tony Ternes wrote on the nomination form. “She was instrumental in getting the conference up and running with hundreds of hours of her time spent doing so and also in service to the poor since the inception about six years ago.”
Although there are many missionary causes that support the poor, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, aims to take a more dignified, private approach. Volunteers visit those in need instead of the needy coming to a public building seeking help.
“A lot of them don’t have support. They need someone to hear them and understand,” Loomis said.
Loomis estimates that nearly $67,000 was spent in 2020 directly helping 650 people in the area in need through 270 home visits.
The Washburn native was raised in the Methodist faith. It was her marriage to husband, John, that turned her to the Catholic faith just as they were starting a family. "It happened about two years after marriage. I wanted us to be one unit." That included faith. "My parents were very accepting."
Loomis and her family have participated in Bismarck’s Cathedral Parish hospitality ministry since she joined the church 30 years ago and she has been an active member of the choir since she came there. She works full-time at a Dakota Eye Institute and part-time at I. Keating Furniture World. Husband, John, is a teacher and assistant principal at the Light of Christ Catholic School system.
In addition, the family delivers Meals on Wheels when able. They have three grown children and two grandchildren. Marci and her family recognize their blessings and want to share them with others. The St. Vincent de Paul Society is a perfect place to do just that.
The Society advocates for the poor, assists the disabled, provides emergency transportation, engages through home visits to the poor and provides emergency financial assistance when possible.
They assist where they can, when they can via the mission. They might help with food, toiletries, diapers and furniture. "We help with a little bit of everything—rent, medication, utilities, transportation, car repairs and more.”
The mission cannot pay for everything, but the visitors will do what they can and listen to the person’s/family’s circumstances. Taking the time to listen and pray with the people can prove very beneficial for everyone involved.
“We will work with the landlord and see if the person can pay part of the rent or we will try and send them to someone else who can help if another organization is better suited to fill a need. We’ve paid phone minutes so they can get a job.”
The mission of the lay organization leads men and women to join and grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering in the tradition of St. Vincent de Paul and its founder Fredrick Ozanam. Members, known as Vincentians, unite in their spirit of charity, humility and sharing which is nourished by prayer and reflection.
Seven years ago, with encouragement from Bishop Kagan and support from the Fargo District Council, Loomis joined efforts to expand the charity in the state.
"At that time, there were no conferences in western North Dakota," she explained
The mission is the largest lay Catholic organization in the world, operating in 135 countries. Its first conference in the United States began in 1845 in St. Louis.
"It's a worldwide organization that was founded in 1833 in France. There are some 4,400 conferences worldwide. It has a lot of history. It is a strong organization."
Some 20 volunteers work with Cathedral’s Conference with 12 making home visits, according to Loomis. “We do go on home visits. You never go by yourself. We step out of our comfort zones.” In these home visits, they find the need is real and not everyone has the basics we can all take for granted.
“Marci’s self-giving has inspired and strengthened the faith of individuals she has served, and in Marci’s service to the poor, she has brought hope back into many of the individual’s lives,” Deacon Tony noted in the nomination.
The mission has left the empty nester busy.
"I’m always active. My mom laughed at my calendar. There wasn't an empty space,” Loomis said. “There is a sacrifice in doing charity work. You just have to be willing to do it," Loomis said.
Getting the Cathedral conference going required a lot of work and organizing, but Loomis credits the large number of volunteers for sticking to it and allowing it to evolve into what it is today. She’s quick to defer credit, emphasizing that there are many hands that have contributed to the work of making a difference for those in need.
"There was a lot of organizing, getting it going. At first, the Bismarck conference ran under the Fargo district council. "There were a lot of good people helping," Loomis said.
Conferences are individual missions of the organization. The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has evolved into its own district council (the Council of Western N.D.) now that there are four active conferences throughout the Bismarck Diocese including St. Patrick in Dickinson, St. Joseph’s Parish in Williston and St. John Paul II in Minot. She added there is interest in forming a conference in Watford City and Standing Rock as well.
“That’s why we need more volunteers,” she said. And, with that comes more financial need as well.
A major fundraiser for the Cathedral conference is an annual 5K walk/run in fall, which can raise $7,000 alone.
"We've been blessed with generous donations," she said. “It’s a fun organization and you feel good doing what you are supposed to be doing as charitable people.”
She noted the group has also received strong support from priests and deacons making diocesan parishes an important point of contact for someone in need. For more information on the four conferences in the Bismarck Diocese go to bismarckdiocese.com/svdp.