First Year -- Newman Mission: Sep 2007 -- Aug 2008

MISSION SUPPORT -

The first fundraiser (October 2007) was the popular Pancake Breakfast for the benefit of Sister Joanne Gangloff at the Timau Mission in Africa. The community was very generous and more than $1,800 was donated to the mission. Thanks to the help of John Roba, Steve Hanley, Al Naish and Tom Stoddard who were on their game providing delicious pancakes and side dishes, the was a fantastic success. Above all, with the help of Leon Colucci, the Getzville Volunteer Fire Hall proved to an ideal setting for the Sunday Mass and the breakfast.




A presentation by volunteers from Ann Marie Zon's Nicaragua Mission Project was given to the Adult Ed group (November 2007). Since that evening, spontaneous donations have exceeded $800. The community now has financed five milk cows, two pigs, and provided support to the school in Nicaragua. The cows are named "Juanita", "Henrietta", "Newmanella", "Paola" and "Marion", while the pigs are named "JJ" and "Newman Jr."

In November, the JNMC Board donated a sum of $750 to the Retirement Fund for the Religious. This donation was a continuation of the support from our Newman Community for many years.

The JNMC community provided Christmas gifts for fifty-one young people in need (December 2007). These young people were family members of students of ECCN and also refugee families being housed at Vive La Casa. Bill McLaughlin and Pam Lawless were responsible for planning and carrying out this annual charitable event.

On February 3, 2008, the JNM Community donated cash after mass for our annual Souper-Bowl collection in support of the Food Bank of Western New York. The community was very generous in donating $306.09 with the help of our confirmation candidates who received the donations in ample sized soup pans. At the JNMC Board meeting the same day, the Board agreed to match the community's donation and a total of $612 was sent to the Food Bank. A letter of thanks was received from their President, Mr. Thomas Heine.

In February 2008, our JNMC at large was asked to provide suggestions for other missions that have the greatest need. We plan to dedicate our outreach efforts each month to a mission who has specific needs that we can fill.

In March 2008, the JNMC Board reviewed the list of suggestions from the community. The following charities will be supported by donations from the community. Each month, one of the following charities will be the recipient of donations from the community. The average donation from the weekly collection will be matched by the funds available in our treasury. Any donations made from the parish that are designated to go directly to the charity will be kept whole and added to the total. The twelve charities are: Los Niños; Timau Catholic Missions; St. Luke's Mission of Mercy; Vive La Casa; Harvest House; Nicaragua Mission Project; Cornerstone; St Augustine and St. Monica Scholars; Response to Love; Journey's End Refugees Service; Catholic Radio; Cross Catholic International; and on an individual basis - Catholic Charities. All donations from the parish will be matched except Catholic Charities, which will be sent to the agency directly, and will be registered as donations from St. Mary's of the Assumption Parish. This list was finalized in early April and announced to the community.

In April 2008, the community received a Thank You note from Harvest House. The Bottles for Babies collection was recently presented to Harvest House in the form of 41 baby bottles filled with coins. The amount collected was $956.89. This money will be used by Harvest House to purchase needed clothing and baby essentials like crib sheets and mattresses.

Also in April 2008, the JNMC Board agreed to donate $1000 to Catholic Charities and will do so through St. Mary’s of the Assumption parish.

_ COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES IN 2008 - 2009
The season of Lent began with a soup and bread supper followed by Liturgy and the distribution of ashes. The meal was organized by Joanne Montante and a host of great volunteers and cooks. Father Duke Zajak celebrated the mass with us, despite having to drive from downtown Buffalo in a major ice storm. The evening was attended by more than 60 members of the community, and my most estimates, it was two-times the attendance of previous Ash Wednesday services.

Holy Week included a full church on Palm Sunday; our closing Family Religious Education Classes including Stations of the Cross by the high school students (in shadow images); a extremely well-attended Seder Meal thanks to Father Paul; Good Friday services lead by Father Bernie Olsewski; Easter Vigil Liturgy celebrated by Father Bernie; and an over-flowing church including extended family members on Easter Sunday. Thanks to Father Bernie for being our priest for the Easter weekend services.

Summer 2008:
Our community continued its summer tradition with Sunday masses under the tent.

Thanks to the generosity of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Clarence, we set up our tent for all the Sunday masses in July through the end of August. Thanks especially to Sister Suzanne and all the Sisters for approving this arrangement, and for making their garage available for our coffee and snacks.



The Newman Mission Community Picnic.



The Community Celebrated our first full year of existence with our annual picnic in Clarence on August 17, 2008. Over sixty community members and extended families had an enjoyable, sunny day with good food and fun-filled games.



_ Sacraments
On May 17, 2008 we welcomed Juliana Smith to the Lord’s Table for her first Holy Communion. The mass was celebrated by Father Paul Steller, and our guest speaker for mass was Sister Johnice from the Response to Love Center in Buffalo.
Confirmation Candidates completed a two-year preparation cycle. The date for confirmation was November 19, 2008 at St. Mary of the Assumption in Lancaster. Bishop Kmiec presided at the sacrament for eleven confirmands. A new group of sixteen candidates began their preparation for confirmation that same month using the new cycle.

John Newman Mission’s Support of Our Missions with the Greatest Need
The board followed the community’s recommendations to support those missions nominated by the community. In accordance with this recommendation the following fund-raising has been an essential part of the community.

May 2008: Response to Love Center. The community donated $1859 from our Sunday collection and Sister Johnice with one of her assistants, Greg came to speak at our Mass on
May 17. In addition, our community volunteers worked at the Response to Love Center on June 9 where meals were prepared and served to over 180 people at the center. Other volunteers worked in the thrift store and the pantry. Our community donated food and clothing to the center. Sister Johnice presented our community with a beautiful statue of Jesus embracing the leper. The statue was displayed near our altar at Sunday masses.

June 2008: Los Niños. The community donated $1,333 from our Sunday collections to Los Niños. During the month, the Managing Board of Los Niño’s was in Buffalo for their annual meeting, and the John Newman Mission Community was named as a Principal Supporter of Los Niños due to years of continued and significant support. At the award dinner, our entire community was invited to attend, and nearly 30 members accepted the invitation for the dinner at the South Park Botanical Gardens. The community was presented with a beautiful, framed photo of a woman of the Chihuahua region of Mexico. It should be noted, that in addition to the $1,333 donation from our Sunday collections, members of the community also donated $4,500 directly to Los Niños and their local coordinators, our friends Bill and Marion McLaughlin.

Also – Ride-for-Roswell Fundraiser – we had seven members from our community participate in the record setting fundraiser this year. Riders covered distances from 9 miles to 60 miles on June 28, 2008.

July 2008: Harvest House Ministries: The community donated $1,585 in cash donations to Harvest House, plus a number of cash-filled "bottles for babies". The total donation was well over $1,700 for the Harvest House Ministries. Gary and Linda Tatu attended mass with us in mid -July and a "thank you" letter was received.

A donation of $500 was presented to the Leonard Castriano Jr. Scholarship Endowment and the associated golf outing by our community. Leonard was a victim of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. The scholarship is set up to benefit a student each year who graduates from Williamsville East. Leonard Sr. and Nancy Castriano were very thankful at the golf tournament. A total of eight men from the community played golf in support of the fundraiser, four of whom were lucky to have their names picked from a hat for the spots sponsored by the JNMC.

August 2008: Nicaragua Mission Project: The community donated $2,250 in cash donations to this mission, including $500 dedicated to the purchase of five milk cows, and $500 designated to the school in Nicaragua. Ann Marie Zon attended mass with us in late September and the community donated a large quantity of clothing and school supplies, which will be packed and transported by truck to the mission.

Also in August, a number of young volunteers returned to offer their services at the Response to Love Center in Buffalo. Our group included young members of the following families: the Lamancuso’s, Morog’s, Celeste’s, and Ruhl’s. More than 150 meals were prepared and served on that date in the dining room. Our community also donated a trunk full of school items such as backpacks, filler paper, notebooks, pens, pencils and markers. These are distributed by the Response to Love Center to the needy kids in the inner city.