03/18/2026
All:
I never thought I would be writing this letter. On April 1, 2026, normal operations here at VIMS will cease. We are running out of operating capital and, we can’t continue without being able to pay the bills.
What happened? We were asked to take on fund raising for two big projects, the renovation of the Vincentian motherhouse in Paris and the expansion of seminaries in Africa where there are many men who want to be Vincentian priests and brothers. These projects could have brought in large gifts—the kind with many zeroes. They would have provided the operating capital to support our regular projects (goats, wells, bikes, beds, etc.). It just didn’t work as planned.
Though, there are a lot of happy goats, people with clean water, and more thanks to what we, with your support, did! Any gift you have sent to VIMS, even if you sent it just yesterday, will go to the project you designated. We’ll continue to acknowledge and appropriately distribute gifts as long as they come in.
I encourage you to be generous to another charity, hopefully one inspired by the spirit of St. Vincent, St. Louise, and the others who follow in their footsteps. One option is the Vincentian Solidarity Office (VSO). They always have some micro projects that are like VIMS’ projects. To learn more: vso.cmglobal.org.
Once we have closed out VIMS’ operations we will delete your contact information from our database. This is consistent with our policy of never, ever sharing your information.
I wish you every blessing,
In St. Vincent,
Fr. Mark Pranaitis, C.M.
