Service and Outreach – Page 7 – St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

A Message from our friends at NPH

This Christmas season, 9,000 children and adults that receive services from Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) have you to thank and pray for! You have continuously provided them with essentials to live, and tools to survive.

I recently read a story about a young man who grew up at NPH Peru. At 7 months old, Adalberto was abandoned by his mother and his father wasn’t in the picture. He first lived with his maternal aunt and grandmother, but they did not have adequate resources to care for him. He would usually be found sleeping on the street using a cardboard box as a bed and a newspaper as a blanket. In 2004, Adalberto was the first child to join the home at NPH Peru when it opened…

Saturday, December 14 at 9:30am: Gaudete Prayer Service with SVdP at St. Paul Church

All are invited to join the Saint Vincent de Paul Conference of St. John-St. Paul Collaborative in a Prayer Service on Saturday morning, December 14, at 9:30am at St. Paul Church (or streaming online here.) This prayer service is our send-off offering prior to our Christmas visits to our homebound parishioners.

We would also like to thank the members of the Young Adult Ministry group and the students preparing for their Confirmation for their support of this effort.

Merry Christmas and a heartfelt thank you from our St. Vincent de Paul Conference team.

“Spirit of Sharing” Gift Collection for Saint Patrick Parish, Lawrence

Founded over two decades ago here at Saint John School, Spirit of Sharing helps brighten Christmas for about 350 boys and girls who live in the gateway city of Lawrence, Massachusetts, one of the most financially impoverished cities in the U.S. Many thanks for your continued support of this blessed community.

This Advent Season, we invite you to donate gifts for children ages 3 to 14 in one of the following three ways:

Shop for a Christmas gift in person and drop it off between December 9 and December 20 at St. John School’s Ledyard Street entrance…

St. Paul Giving Tree: Take a Tag or Scan a Code Starting this Weekend!

St. Paul Giving Tree is an Advent tradition spreading Christmas cheer from our parish to hundreds of people through several local organizations.

This year’s Giving Tree program begins this weekend, November 17-18, with two boards set up in the St. Paul Sanctuary with gift tag requests.

Several of the organizations we are supporting have also provided Amazon Wish Lists to make giving easier – simply scan the QR codes on the posters in the church, select the items you would like to gift, and they will be shipped directly to the organizational representative…

A Night to Celebrate and Support Capuchin Mobile Ministries

Thursday, November 14, 2024 from 6:30 – 8:30pm at the St. Paul Parish Hall

Our friends at Capuchin Mobile Ministries, the recipients of our 2024 Collaborative Lenten Gift, extend an invitation to all to attend their upcoming “Grateful Gathering” annual benefit event –

Please join us for an evening of gratitude and support for the work of Capuchin Mobile Ministries. As we enter the season of thanksgiving and gratitude, we will celebrate our collective accomplishments and hear from leadership about how our ministry can grow… Our evening together will feature delicious food, wonderful company, and new ways to support Capuchin Mobile Ministries…

To purchase tickets or make a donation…

October 26-27: St. Francis House Toiletries Collection (Small/Single Use)

Please donate personal or small sized toiletry items to our collection for the guests of St. Francis House. Items may be placed in the boxes available at the back of both churches for collection on the weekend of October 26-27.

Suggested items include: shampoo, body lotion, soap, deodorant, shaving cream, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Complimentary hotel items are totally acceptable!

Boo! It’s time to think about Christmas!

Christmas in October??? Yes, that’s a scary thought!!!

But when it comes to fulfilling Christmas Wishes for 400 children we need to start thinking about Christmas in October! We have only 3 weeks to recruit volunteers to sign up to sponsor a child this Christmas – will you be one of them?

When you sponsor a child (or multiple children) through Christmas Wish, you will be given a wish list for clothing and a special gift that you will purchase and drop off at a local Wellesley home to be delivered to the families. Your instructions will be emailed to you the week before Thanksgiving and gifts will need to be dropped off the week after Thanksgiving.

We also welcome donations to help purchase gifts and gift cards for children not matched with sponsors…

Thank You from SVdP!

The St. John-St. Paul Society of St. Vincent de Paul would like to thank our collaborative community for their tremendous support of our recent Fill-the-Truck event. The response to helping those in need was tremendous – may God bless you all!

We will be back next fall with our next Fill-the-Truck event!

SVDP Fill-A-Truck Event! This Weekend, October 12-13 in the St. Paul Church Parking Lot

Saturday, October 12: 9:00am – 5:00pm

Sunday, October 13: 9:00am – 1:00pm

St. Paul Parking Lot
(behind the church – enter from Atwood St.)

Items Needed:
Clothing: men’s, women’s, children’s, shoes
Accessories: hats, scarves, costume jewelry
Linens: bedding, towels, sheets, blankets, kitchen linens
All donations must be bagged and in good/clean condition.

Clean out your closets and help those in need – let’s fill the truck! Thank you for helping us help others.

Questions? Need pickup for your donations? Email svdp@sjspwellesley.org during the week of October 6.

September 29-29: Second Collection for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Each year, on the weekend closest to the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul (September 27), our Collaborative Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) asks for your help in funding our mission – to provide urgently needed assistance to our neighbors in need for the basic necessities of life.

Our Second Collection this weekend supports this on-going work. Special SJSP SVdP envelopes are available in the churches, and checks may be made out to the “SJSP Conference SVDP Society” and placed in the collection or mailed/dropped to either parish office. Gifts may also be made online at sjspwellesley.org/svdp

Please help us to help the many friends in need in our community with your generous donations.