Thank you for considering sponsorship of the Southwest Ohio Dare to Care Dash.  Prior to 2024, the race was known as the Run for the Poor.  To sign up to become a sponsor, see the Contact Us section at the bottom of this page.

The St. Martin District Council, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Inc. is one of the five District Councils reporting to the Cincinnati Archdiocesan Central Council of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP).  Our District Council has served the needs of the poor in this area continually since its aggregation into the International Society of St. Vincent de Paul in 1964. Some of our member Conferences existed before the Council was aggregated. Our oldest Conference, based at St. Louis Parish in Owensville, OH, was started in 1952.

Our Council is comprised of 21 Parish Conferences located in the southwest Ohio counties of Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Highland and Warren.  As such, it encompasses the largest geographical region of any SVDP District in the Cincinnati Archdiocese, including some of Ohio’s poorest economic Appalachian areas.

Despite the challenges of distance between Conferences and of increasing caseloads, St. Martin District Council has achieved an active membership of over 375 Active and Associate volunteers who gave more than 30,350 free service hours to their communities.  This includes more than 12,800 home visits and helping more than 42,367 of our neighbors in the area we serve.

The Council and its affiliated Conferences are funded 100 percent by donations from parishioners and other supporters.  Despite this tremendous support, the need is always greater than our available funds. The vast majority of funds that are donated to our Council and its Conferences are expended for purchasing food, and paying utility, rent, fuel, medicine.  We also pay critical bills and other expenses for neighbors who need our help.

Lacking a large urban center and commensurate local corporate sponsors for support, the St. Martin District Council falls short in raising the resources needed to support all the requests for help from its member Conferences. This is especially true in trying to accommodate the needs of the eastern most conferences in Adams and Brown counties. Thus, a revenue generating charity event, the St. Martin District Councils’ “RUN FOR THE POOR” 5K Run and Health Walk was started in 1992 to help provide for some of these shortfalls.  We have rebranded this race for 2024 to shift the focus to the needs of the marginalized of our communities.  The charity run has the full approval of Miami Township Trustees and Safety Officials (Clermont County, Ohio). All proceeds from the Dare to Care Dash go directly into a Grant Fund that is used by our member Conferences specifically for needy applicants to St Vincent de Paul.

Please consider becoming a sponsor of the Dare to Care Dash of Southwest Ohio.  Your support will help make a huge difference to our neighbors in need.

Click Here for a list of our 2024 Sponsors.

Our Council was incorporated as an Ohio 501 (c) (3) nonprofit in 1991. St. Martin District Council, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Inc. and all of its member Conferences are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations registered in the State of Ohio.  All donations to our Council and its Conferences are fully tax deductible.