October 17, 2014

Ryan named new president of Society of St. Vincent de Paul council in Indy

Criterion staff report

John RyanJohn Ryan, a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis, was installed as the new president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s Indianapolis Council at the group’s annual meeting on Oct. 5.

Stepping down as president was Patrick Jerrell, a member of St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis, who held the position since 2008, fulfilling the maximum of two consecutive three-year terms allowed by the organization’s bylaws.

Sworn in at the same meeting was James Vento, the council’s first executive director. In this role, Vento, a member of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Carmel, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, will oversee the day-to-day operations of the organization’s food pantry, distribution center and Beggars for the Poor homeless ministry.

Ryan and Vento have decades of leadership experience.

In addition to being a lawyer and holding public positions under Indianapolis mayor Bill Hudnut and governors Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence, Ryan has been a board member or chairperson for St. Elizabeth/Coleman Adoption Services, Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Serra Club, among other groups.

Vento recently retired as president and CEO of the Easter Seals Crossroads Rehabilitation Center in Indianapolis, and has served as chair of the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities and the Indiana Interagency Coordinating Council on Infants and Toddlers.

Reflecting on six years as president of the entirely volunteer-run organization, Jerrell said, “I love being a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul because it is a good antidote to what is going on in the world. The mission of the society is to treat people as equals, and recognize that we are all children of God and deserving of some respect.”
 

(For more information on the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, log on to www.svdpindy.org.) †

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