Happy Easter to all! We pray the beauty, hope and promise of this day is yours.
Our Lenten Food Drive obviously now comes to a close and we are pleased to report that just over 70,000 cans were collected (our goal was 50,000) but cans and monetary donations are still coming in as recently as yesterday. Scores of volunteers and thousands of people made this happen!
We were able to fill our pantries and also make major deliveries to The Father McKenna Center and Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, both familiar to us and in the neighborhood.
We thank the participating churches: St. Thomas Apostle, St. Ann (and Scouts), Blessed Sacrament, Annunciation, St. Augustine, Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, all in the District; St. Jerome Hyattsville; St. Peter’s Olney; Resurrection Burtonsville; St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Grace, Silver Spring; St. Paul Damascus; St. Mary Rockville. Thanks to the pastors who said yes, the social concerns directors who organized, the folks who did the bulletin announcements and social media posts, the volunteers who helped load the trucks.
Also, Academy of the Holy Cross and Elizabeth Seton High School both came in with impressive numbers. Thanks to the hard working campus ministers, the amazingly enthusiastic students and the approving administrators.
Many thanks to many of our Board who participated in spite of their busy schedules and real jobs: Mack Kennedy, Patrick Mulholland, Bryan Cullen, Patrick Gex, Victoria Iliesh, Bill Mulholland, Christianne Ricchi, (Fr.) Scott Hahn, Stephanie Pratt, Brian T Mangino, Leah V. Durant, fantastic all.
We thank the pantry directors and their teams of volunteers, who sort, shelve and prepare your gifts for distribution to the families we are privileged to help.
This is the essence of what we do — involve as many people as we can in serving our brothers and sisters in the city we love. It made for a great Lent for all of us.
Holy Thursday marked 11 years since Dad’s passing. I can’t help but believe all these good people living the Gospel by caring for others would have put a smile on his face. Like many of the photos you see here, I took this one last night during my long walk in which I said a prayer of thanksgiving for all of you. Happy Easter!