The Diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting is seeking a new chairperson and new committee members. All interested adult leaders and parents of youth in the American Heritage Girls, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, and Trail Life USA are invited to join. The committee plans the annual Diocesan Scout Mass and promotes the youth religious awards programs. The committee usually meets monthly on the third Tuesday at 7 pm and members can participate via Zoom. Please visit our website, www.catholicscoutingkzoo.org, for more information. To volunteer, please email John Hallacy at chair@catholicscoutingkzoo.org.
There are many ways to help around a parish. The help can be as simple as saying a prayer or writing a letter. Or it could be knitting a shawl or even helping out at a parish event. We will use this page to list the items that need an extra pair of hands for an on-going project or for a once in a while event. Please check in with us often to see what's new.
Our community has been helping to make deliveries since March for the food delivery program through Catholic Charities. We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of families needing assistance, especially in the Benton Harbor area. When we started in March we averaged 40-45 families, this week our list is up to 79 families!
We are in need of drivers for at least 4 routes. The volunteers would deliver food boxes to 5-8 homes in the area. They pick up the food boxes at the Rose Center every week and then deliver to their set route. The boxes can be heavy (maybe 10ish lbs) and need to be lifted in and out of vehicles so volunteers need to be aware that it is a bit of a physical job.
Anyone who is interested can email Martha at this address (mthienem@mac.com)
Our Parish serves lunch at the Soup Kitchen on the second Tuesday of each month. We have 3 wonderful teams who take turns during the year to assist the leads with this process. Our current leaders, Ed and Diane Phillips, are looking to retire and would like to help the next leaders take over this rewarding ministry.
Prior to the Covid Pandemic, the teams cooked a standard set of meals including hot dogs in the summer and sloppy joes in the colder months, along with chips and a dessert item. Currently they are providing bagged lunches to the Soup Kitchen and the employees there are handing them out to the clients.
For more details on all that is involved, please call the parish office. We would like to make this transition in the near future.
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread”
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta
When Mother Teresa visited the United States, she saw how our elderly, living in nursing homes, had more than enough food, lived in nice, clean accommodations and received good medical care. But what they hungered for was love and meaningful connections to others. They suffered the most from loneliness and the fear of being forgotten.
Add to this scenario the current pandemic, and the situation for our assisted living friends is extremely bleak. But there is something we can do to help. Won’t you please consider being a special friend to one of our Catholic brothers or sisters currently in an assisted living facility?
If you’d like to give just a little of your time to help an assisted living resident feel loved and not forgotten, please join this growing ministry today.
Letting our assisted living friends know that they are not forgotten is easy...
• Write them a note or send a happy greeting card
• Send them a beautiful photo or a picture postcard
• Visit them through the window by just waving or by a phone call
• Make a poster or sign to hold up at their window
• Have a pet? Bring them by to say “hello” through the window
• Have a child draw a picture to brighten their day
• Send them a prayer card or jot down your favorite prayer or scripture passage to share
• Drop off a little treat or a bunch of flowers from your garden
• Use your imagination and be creative!
Please call or text Margaret Hogeboom at 269-921-3446 to take the next step to help our assisted living friends.
Thank You!