Service and Outreach – Page 13 – St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

Thank You from the Christmas Wish Team!

For almost 30 years the Christmas Wish team has reached out and asked for sponsors and donations and once again our parishioners answered the call! This program is only possible because of the incredible generosity of our parishioners who donate gifts, money and time to us each year.

This year we were able to support 334 children and their families in Wellesley, Roxbury, Brockton and Lowell. Each child received a special gift as well as clothing and their family received a $200 grocery gift card. In addition, we were able to give Julie’s Family Learning Center in South Boston a substantial number of food cards that the women use throughout the year.

Thank you for the amazing response this year. We are beyond grateful for your continued support.

“Spirit of Sharing” Gift Collection for St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence

Founded over two decades ago by a group of St. John-St. Paul parishioners and Saint John School families, the Spirit of Sharing-Lawrence collection helps brighten Christmas for about 350 boys and girls living at severe risk for hunger in Lawrence, MA. Many thanks to Fr. Jim Laughlin and Fr. Bryan Hehir, and to all parishioners, for your abiding support of Spirit of Sharing and the Lawrence community.

Spirit of Sharing provides cheerful Christmas gifts for children whose parents, despite working two to three jobs a week, cannot afford to give them presents…

Thank You For Your Donations to the Waltham Food Pantries!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Mass on Thanksgiving morning and brought items for the Waltham Food Pantries! As you can see, we collected a tremendous amount of non-perishable food, personal, and household items for those in need.

The folks at the Bristol Lodge Food Pantry were so happy to receive these much-needed donations!

Our Annual “Coats for Kids and Families” Collection is This Weekend, November 12-13!

Drop Off in the St. John Rectory Garage
As the weather gets cooler we are once again having our Coats for Kids & Families coat collection:
All winter coats – kids, adults and babies – that are warm winter coats in good, wearable condition.
Please donate coats you would give a friend to wear. Do not donate coats that have rips/tears, broken zippers and/or permanent stains and please be sure to empty out all pockets.

Annual “Coats for Kids and Families” Collection – November 12-13

We will once again be collecting gently-used and new winter coat donations for children and adults at the St. John’s Rectory Garage on the weekend of November 12 -13.

What to Donate:

All winter coats – kids, adults and babies – that are warm winter coats in good, wearable condition. Please donate coats you would give a friend to wear. Do not donate coats that have rips/tears, broken zippers and/or permanent stains and please be sure to empty out all pockets.

St. John Christmas Wish 2022

We are happy to extend an invitation to participate in this year’s St. John Christmas Wish Program. The Christmas Wish Program has been one of the highlights of St. John’s holiday outreach since 1993. This Christmas, we hope to grant the special wishes for more than 400 children based upon the caring generosity of our parish community. Each child is provided with a new outfit of clothing and a special Christmas Wish gift they have requested. These gifts will go to the youngsters in our own parishes, as well as in our sister parishes of St. Katherine Drexel in Roxbury, St. Patrick in Lowell, St. Patrick in Brockton and the Julie Family Learning Program in Boston.

If you are able to help make Christmas Wishes come true this year, please visit our Christmas Wish SignUp page to sign-up to sponsor a child/family…

St. Paul Giving Tree 2022

St. Paul Giving Tree is an Advent tradition spreading Christmas cheer from our parish to hundreds of people through several local organizations. Each year recipients express their deepest appreciation for the generosity of our parishioners.

The annual Giving Tree Program will officially begin on the weekend of November 12th-13th! As we did last year, we will have two boards in the St. Paul Sanctuary with tag requests. Once the trees are put up over Thanksgiving weekend, the tags will be transferred to the trees. The tags will be on the boards and trees through December 4th. All gifts must be returned to St. Paul by Sunday, December 11th…

Toiletries Drive for St. Francis House – Weekend of October 22-23

A collection of small sizes of personal care items (such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving cream, lotion, etc.) for guests of St. Francis House will take place the weekend of October 22-23.

Complimentary hotel items are totally acceptable – so check your closets!

Items may be dropped off in the boxes that will be available at the back of both churches. Thank you for your support!

Join the St. John “Christmas Wish” Team!

The Christmas Wish program, which brings the joy of Christmas to hundreds of children and families in need, has been a highlight of St. John’s outreach efforts since 1993. During the Christmas season, the program fulfills a special gift request for the more than 400 children in the program, and provides gift cards for their families to purchase clothing and other necessities…

We want to thank Deirdre O’Kelly Lynch for her outstanding direction of this program for the past several years, and we look forward to its continued success under the leadership of Chrissy Cassa.

We are looking for volunteers for the Christmas Wish Leadership Team – if you want to work with a great team and be a part of this important project, please contact Mary Campion mary.campion@sjspwellesley.org for more details. Work begins in October and wraps up in December.

A New Video from Our Friends at NPH!

Our friends at NPH USA have created a new video highlighting their work – check it out below!

ABOUT NPH USA

Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) means “Our Little Brothers and Sisters” in Spanish. NPH USA transforms the lives of vulnerable children in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru. Together, we help children overcome poverty and become productive, caring leaders in their own communities. Founded in 1954 by Father William Wasson, NPH is supporting nearly 7,000 children…