September brings change and new projects to sustain our spirits during this time of wearing masks everywhere. How do we continue in ministry in a time of social distancing and lock downs? Two initiatives for the Guardians of the Visitation are a Fall letter writing campaign to raise awareness and funds for the SSV Mission to help sustain the mission through the pandemic. The second initiative is The Great Baby Blanket Project, kicked up a notch, as the Advent Project for St. Petronille Parish. The planning for both is in the works but the real story is how many non profits must adapt and be creative to think of ways to reach out in the community to share their story. This year we will again participate in #GivingTuesday on December 1st. For the first time the country of the Philippines will participate in this global day of giving. The vision I hope to someday realize would be to plan an activity for Giving Tuesday that will unite the SSV Sisters and children in Borongan with our parish community in the US at some point on that day even though we are 13 hours apart. It is an unpredictable time but events like Giving Tuesday unite us in our common humanity and give opportunity to be generous with your time and gifts to help others locally and globally.
Some things can't wait for GivingTuesday to roll around. In our parish, with the help of neighbors and our parish school, we organized a clothing drive for Haiti. It came to our attention through a different congregation of religious sisters that their Sisters in Haiti were desperate for clothing for the poor children and adults in their care. Haiti suffers terribly because of the virus and the poverty and high crime effecting every area of the country. As Guardians of the Visitation, we do not have to travel far from home to help our neighbors and be attentive to the suffering closer to home. The pandemic has limited our movements but has not limited our ability to find ways to be of assistance where we can. Thank You to St. Petronille School families for collecting two SUV car loads of summer clothing for the poor. The Sisters in Chicago packed over 30 boxes to be shipped to Port Au Prince. Magnificat!
Comments