Saturday, June 98:00AM to NOON - St. Francis HallMake an appointment after any Mass at the table in the Gathering Space on either May 26/27 or June 2/3. For more information, please call Katie Onka at 609 466-0300 ext. 23.
Service to others is one of the cornerstones of our Christian faith. Being a blood donor is a wonderful way to serve people who can't even thank you and who can't thank you enough--you could save a life
Our parish holds a blood drive three times a year: Lent, Summer, and Advent. Our next blood drive will be posted soon.The parish works in cooperation with the Community Blood Council of New Jersey to sponsor the blood drive. You may visit their new website for more information. Individuals are always needed to help with sign-ups, assist on the day of the drive, and run the canteen.
You can make a donation appointment one or two weeks prior to the drive at sign-up tables in the Gathering Space after each Mass. For additional information, contact Jim Dowd at jvdfox@yahoo.com or Chris Tuday at ctuday@comcast.net.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Walk! Visit the Photo tab to see pictures from the 2011 South Somerset CROP Walk!
The annual CROP Walk against hunger is a product of Church World Services, an international Christian ministry dedicated to issues of hunger, peace, and justice around the world.
Every October, members of our parish will join members of local faith communities to walk in solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughour the world who are hungry. We Walk Because They Walk is the motto of the CROP Hunger Walk.
The walk is a wonderful opportunity for families, friends, and neighbors to spend time together for an important cause. For more information, check out the Church World Services website and look for more information in the bulletin in September & October.
For additional information, contact Mark Molnar at mmolnar1@comcast.net or Patti Wieser at pwieser@pppl.gov.
"Feed Thy Neighbor" (FTN) is the umbrella title for all our hunger ministries--the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), Loaves & Fishes, our monthly food collections, and our newest partner, Elijah's Promise. This structure has allowed all the hunger ministries to collaborate on projects, lend support to each other, and provide for consistent and cohesive messages to the parish community on how we can help support those in need. For more information about the FTN Ministries, contact the FTN Coordinator, Antoinette Brooke at antoinmb@comcast.net.
Here is just a short summary of each ministry:
Monthly Food Collection
For over ten years, the Catholic community of St. Charles Borromeo has been soliciting monthly food donations in order to supply food and grocery items to the Hillsborough Food Pantry. In recent years, we have also been able to work with the Montgomery Food Pantry by providing regular cash contributions each month. Incredibly, the St. Charles community provides 60% of the needs of the Hillsborough Food Pantry and in so doing, assists the Food Pantry in feeding our neighbors--the child from a low income family, the struggling parent trying to provide for his/her family, the elderly woman living on tea and toast towaard the end of the month in order to meet the rent, the working poor struggling to keep the family together, the unemployed, the disabled, the abused, and the homeless--many of whom live in our community.
The monthly collection, always held on the second Sunday of the month, is an excellent opportunity for individuals and families to serve. Service can be as simple as moving a bag out of the gathering space after the 11:30 a.m. Mass, to delivering food once a month to the Hillsborough Food Pantry. Time requirements can be as little as a couple of minutes to usually no more than an hour. Short of time and still want to participate? Monetary donations and gift cards for perishable items are welcomed on the same day as the grocery collections.
For more information or to become involved, contact any of the Food Collection leadership members: Susan Conover at sjsurf@comcast.net, Bob VanArnum at bvanarnum@withum.com, Lee Briody at lbrio@aol.com, or Amy Irwin at gardenhoser1@aol.com.
Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK)
The mission of TASK is to provide free meals, free services and programs to those in need in the Trenton area. The goal is to enable clients to achieve self-sufficiency. On the second Thursday of every month (except July & August), parishioners from St. Charles travel to Trenton to prepare and serve lunch at TASK. For those who cannot travel with us during the day, we collect white sport socks and mini-hygiene bags (a ziploc bag containing a washcloth, razor, and bar of soap) on the third Sunday of every month.
Parishioners are also involved with the TASK Adult Education Program (AEP), a one-on-one tutoring program designed to help patrons achieve self-sufficiency through education. This program operates Monday through Friday from 9 - 11 a.m. and Monday through Thursday from 2 - 4 p.m. Tutors typically volunteer a few hours each week.
For more information about TASK, please contact Jim Bahr at j.t.bahr@att.net or at 609-466-1546 or Debbie Valazza at dvalazza@comcast.net.
Elijah's Promise
The mission of Elijah's Promise, located in New Brunswich, is to alleviate hunger by providing nutrituous meals, invite justice by offering opportunities for community service, and empower lives through education, training, and social services.
On the second Monday of every month, parishioners from St. Charles work with the staff of Elijah's Promise to serve lunch to the guests of the soup kitchen in an atmosphere of hospitality and dignity. Lunch shifts run from 10:30 until 12:30.
For additional information, please contact Jim Bahr at j.t.bahr@att.net or Debbie Valazza at dvalazza@comcast.net.
Loaves & Fishes
Modeled after the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker "House of Hospitality," the Loaves & Fishes soup kitchen in Trenton is open the last two Saturdays of each month. Although all parishioners are welcomed and encouraged to help serve a meal on any Saturday, the St. Charles community is committed to "hosting" two meals: one in October and one in January. Our 2011/12 service dates are Saturday, October 22, 2011 and Saturday, January 21, 2012. By "hosting" the meal, we plan, prepare, and serve a meal for hundreds of our neighbors in Trenton. The success of this ministry truly requires the help and support of the entire parish!
This ministry also sponsors a Winter Coat Collection in the month of November, and reaps the benefits of the Night of 1,ooo Lunches events (read below).
For additional information, please contact Maura Kelly at kelly5nj@comcast.net or Jennifer Waxman at cyberwax.nj@netzero.net.
Next Service Date: Saturday, May 12 (Our April date has been cancelled!)
Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, international, ecumenical, Christian housing organization working in partnership with individuals, churches, corporations, foundations, and other organizations to build decent, affordable housing. These houses are then sold to families in need at no profit and with no interest. Habitat for Humanity seeks to build lives. Their mission is to eliminate poverty through housing around the world and empower families caught in the cycle of need and hopelessness. Habitat houses are built entirely through hundreds of hours of "sweat equity" by volunteers and future homeowners, through which the partner families gain self-reliance, self-esteem, and new skills.
The community of St. Charles supports this endeavor by sending a work crew to the Trenton area work site on the second Saturday of each month. We are always looking for volunteers. No construction experience is required. Please consider helping our neighbors achieve their dream of home ownership.
For more information, contact Bill or Maureen Schreiber at BSchreib1@bschreib.com.
St. Charles hosts a number of larger service activities that our community organizes and/or participates in throughout the year. These include:
The Advent Giving Tree
This ministry allows us to share with our sisters and brothers, both locally and globally. The Tree, which goes up the first weekend of Advent, has hundreds of requested gift items from organizations that work in our town, in our state, in our country, and throughout our world. Anyone can help by donating the requested gift items. Volunteers are also needed to help organize, drive, pack gifts, etc. For more information, please contact Sharon Howard at cunyhoward@hotmail.com.
The Night of 1,000 Lunches
As part of commitment to Loaves & Fishes, we supply bagged lunches in addition to the larger meal on our service dates in October and January. To prepare those lunches, we have two "Night of 1,000 Lunches" where parishioners gather at the church to make sandwiches and stuff lunch bags. These are typically held at 6 p.m. on the Thursday before our Saturday service date. Parishioners are needed to donate supplies, organize, and to participate during the night of lunch-making.
The dates for our "Night of 1,000 Lunches" for 2011/12 are Thursday, October 20, 2011 and Thursday, January 19, 2012.
For more information, please contact Donna Sileo at sdsileo@comcast.net.
Fat Tuesday Party With Purpose
The Fat Tuesday Party With Purpose is a fun Mardi Gras party the night before Ash Wednesday. The night involves a fun pancake dinner, educational games and activities for families, and a traditional 'passing of the hat' to raise money for a nonprfit agency. Over the past few years, the Fat Tuesday Party has supported HomeFront in Trenton, Catholic Relief Services' efforts in Haiti, and Elijah's Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick.
Thanks to everyone who attended this year's Fat Tuesday Party! Thanks to your support, we were able to raise over $3,000 for scholarships in Guatemala! Be sure to visit the Photo Gallery to see pictures of this year's event. Save the date now for Fat Tuesday 2013 - Tuesday, February 12th!
For additional information, contact Erin Dolan at spsmon@aol.com or Colleen Sozio at soz@msn.com.
Mission Harvest Apple-Picking
The Mission Harvest Apple-Picking event began in the Fall of 2010 as a way to both support local farmers and provide healthy food to our hungry neighbors.
On a Saturday in October (before our Loaves & Fishes service date), families are invited to a day of apple-picking at local Terhune Orchards. The event hopes to collect 800 apples to be able to place in each of the lunch bags at the Night of 1,000 Lunches.
For more information, contact Donna Sileo at sdsileo@comcast.net.
Heifer International Living Gift Market
The Heifer International Living Gift Market is a fun event to support the work of Heifer International that St. Charles held for the first time in February 2011. The "market," held in St. Francis Hall at St. Charles, allows parishioners to "purchase" animals like pigs, chickens, and goats. The sponsored animals help hungry families around the world through the Heifer International program. The Market will provide information on the food- and income-producing animals.
This year's Heifer Gift Market will be Wednesday, March 21, 2012.
For more information, please contact Sharon Howard at cunyhoward@hotmail.com.
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