The Spirit and the Mission: "Flowers before Bread"

Les petits frères des Pauvres was founded in France in 1946 by Armand Marquiset - a French nobleman. Armand Marquiset decided to devote his life and his fortune to the service of the poorest of the poor in the aftermath of the destruction of World War II.

Armand began alone in an impoverished neighborhood in Paris, carrying the meals he cooked himself up six flights of stairs to the attic rooms where so many lonely and forgotten elderly persons lived, no longer able, physically or financially, to look after themselves. Soon he was surrounded by a group of young volunteers, and aided by the money he unashamedly cajoled from his wealthy friends. By and by les petits frères grew into the international organization it is today.

Armand summed up what he wanted to do - and the spirit he wanted to do it in - with words that have remained to this day the motto and guiding principle for all that les petits frères des Pauvres undertake: to offer

Bread, of course, for when someone is hungry, bread is essential. But even before material necessities, we believe there must also be warmth, love, understanding and dignity, the flowers of a true friendship.

For 50 years now ...

the "petits frères" volunteers on three continents have faithfully tended to the needs of their old friends by:

	visiting them regularly in their homes,
	providing them with the assistance they need to remain in their own memory-filled surroundings,
	inviting them to festive holiday dinners on Easter, Christmas, and Mother's Day parties,
	organizing and accompanying them on vacation holidays.

Fidelity in friendship is important to us, for the final service petits frères may provide is to accompany these elderly friends to their last resting place.

Why do we do this?

We do this, because we believe in the dignity of every human being, including and even especially the elderly We believe in helping lonely and isolated persons, faced with declining physical or mental health, by offering them the assistance and encouragement they need to remain independent, in their own homes as long as possible, rather than endure institutionalization. We think that providing the essentials is necessary, but even more important are the "extras" that make up a real friendship.

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