A Wonderful Week of Service at the PADS Homeless Shelter/Saint Lawrence O’Toole
First and foremost, to you the parishioners of Saint Joseph, heartfelt thanks and appreciation for your most generous contributions and support in helping make our Call for Winter Hats, Scarfs and Gloves for the clients of the PADS Homeless Shelter at Saint Lawrence O’Toole a resounding success. Despite the inclement weather, members of the PADS team including Chuck Funke, Emmet Cassidy and Dominic Garofolo delivered more than 10 boxes of winter items to the Shelter on Monday, 20 January 2020, the Martin Luther King Day of Service.
Once delivered, older members of the Youth Ministry including Timmy, Charlie, Grace, Tyler, Morgan and Maggie, along with Youth Ministry Director, Allisa Opyd, Rita Davenport and Erin Roeper did a wonderful job in sorting and storing all the collected items. The group also participated in a tour of the facility and a discussion about the import and impact of their volunteer efforts on this national day of service. Becki Calomino and younger members of the Youth Ministry decorated 50 lunch bags and filled them with homemade cookies. They were delivered to the PADS Homeless Shelter for the lunches to be prepared by the PADS team on our night/morning of service which was Wednesday/Thursday, 22 and 23 January. We are truly blessed to work with such a terrific group of young people, their parents and leadership. We thank you again for the opportunity to expand our ministries' partnership and serve those in need in our community.
If that isn’t enough to get you inspired, the terrific and dedicated PADS team hosted the aforementioned night and day of service at the PADS Homeless Shelter. An incredible homemade meal of meatloaf, mash potatoes, corn and salad was prepared by Chuck and Theresa Funke and Rose Ann Rooney and served to 40 clients on hand that evening. Extraordinary deserts were again prepared by Julie Orbik.
Great meals are often complemented by the concern and compassion of those who serve them. Our Wednesday night, our clients were so fortunate to be served by caring and respectful by people like Emmet Cassidy, Dominic and Nadine Garofolo, Rose Ann Rooney, Peg Boivin, Theresa Funke and our newest volunteers, Sara and her granddaughters.
While the meals prepared and served are critical components to our service initiatives, there are other activities that play an important role in making our evening and morning successful. It all starts with a smooth and coordinated check-in process and Karin Fortson and Rita Davenport have it down to a science! Brad Davenport and Nick Orbik did a great job in distributing the sleeping materials to the clients. What is even more impressive is to see a Sox and Cubs fan working side-by-side! Peggy Adducci is a constant source of support especially through her monthly cookie donations. They are readily consumed throughout the evening and enjoyed with much pleasure by our clients.
Once dinner and clean-up are finished, the task of preparing lunches for the next day begins. On Wednesday night we had a terrific team including Peg, Theresa, Rose Ann, Rita, Julie, Morgan, Maggie, Sara and the girls that prepared the lunches and used the wonderful bags supplied by the younger members of the Youth Ministry as previously described.
Lights are out at 10pm and Karin makes her wonderful breakfast sausages for the following morning. At 11pm, Ron Schmitt arrives and we share an overnight of conversation and reflection.
At 5am, our Band of Breakfast Brothers (Chuck Funke, Emmet Cassidy, Eric Griffiths, Bill Nason, Brian Herkert) and Peg Boivin, arrive and prepare and serve a most wonderful and filling breakfast each and every month. They also are instrumental in helping with the clean-up and closing as well.
Finally, we are so fortunate to have people behind the scenes who support us with donations of money, food and supplies. A future note will highlight those participating. Know that your contributions are critical in sustaining our activities here at The PADS Homeless Shelter. If you would be interested in joining us for an evening of service in any way possible for you, please contact Jim Bova at 625.2188 or
[email protected].
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" Ephesians 3:20