July 2015

Summer means returning to our outdoor celebration of the Eucharist on the property of the Sisters of St. Joseph.  We thank the good Sisters for their hospitality.

Our mission of support for July was Little Portion Friary, a half-way house on Main Street in Buffalo, which provides loving support and basic needs for men and women on their journey to a better life.   We heard from Art Haberman about the care that is provided there, and he thanked our community for the meals that we prepare and serve under the coordination of Peg Riexinger.  

June 2015

A shelter for women and children.

Our community once again is supporting this shelter located in Blasdell.  Domestic violence is close to being an epidemic and the victims find shelter in this privately operated facility.    The Kathleen Mary House is not just a shelter .... it is a place for new beginnings.  Residents are given physical, emotional and spiritual assistance in a secure, nuturing environment.   Our community donated $1,925 to this facility, which we hope and pray will help them to break the cycle of violence for the victims who spend time at the facility where they are renewed with dignity of life.

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 Once again, our community promoted the Ride for Roswell and supported a team of eleven riders in support of cancer research and family support.   Irene Stevens was the team captain and helped recruit our riders.   Our team helped to raise well over $7000 (preliminary figure) as part of the larger campaign that raised over $4.5 million.   Despite a very soggy day, the team fulfilled its promise to ride the miles in the rain.   The team carried names of loved ones who have been taken from us by cancer and in honor of those battling the disease.

Left to right:

Front row:  John Roba, Perry Figliotti, Peg Riexinger, Luanne Leo, Jasmine Leo, Jack Leo, Marion McLaughlin (generous supporter), Captain Irene Stevens, and Steve Hanley

Further Back:  Mark and Rose Brady,  Nathan Riexinger and Bruce Riexinger

May 2015
The Franciscan Center
Home for Boys, Age 16 to 20

Father Joe Bayne, OFM, was our celebrant for mass on May 17 and he brought us up to date on the good work being done to provide young men, age 16 to 20 with opportunities to get a fresh start in terms of their mind, body and spirit.    The Franciscan Center provides:

• 24/7 Adult Monitoring
• Free Housing & Basic Needs
• Spiritual Resources
• Like Skills & Life Steps Programs
• Physical Fitness
• School Continuum 
• Legal Mandates Follow-up

Our donation to the Franciscan Center was $2500.

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First Communion for Jasmine Leo and Dominic Capiello

Our community celebrated the sacrament of First Eucharist on May 10th with these two first communicants, who were so well prepared by Peggy Riexinger. Father Paul was the celebrant.   Thank you so much to this community in supporting our religious ed program.

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Father Paul Steller
50th Year Jubilee!
May 22, 2015
We are all celebrating this special event in your honor.  Thank you for helping our community stay together, prompting us to perform the work we can do and helping us to grow during our faith journey with you.

April 2015
The Buffalo Peace House 
is our mission for this month

Once again, we heard from Mary Calahan about the good work being done to house refugees and asylum seekers at this facility in Athol Springs.   They provide nutritious meals, safe housing and immigration counseling for more than twenty residents.   Refugees come from far and wide, including China, Burma, Afghanistan, Columbia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Angola and Nigeria.   Our donation for this mission was over $3,000.

March 2015

Our mission is to support the Bissonnete House

Transforming lives since 1977

Peaceprints™ of WNY offers individuals returning to our communities exceptional reentry services.  Specializing in transitional & supportive housing, individualized case management, as well as in-prison & community support groups, advocacy and community outreach; Peaceprints™ is equipped with the tools necessary to strengthen our community by rebuilding the lives of the individuals we serve one person at a time.   

Our speaker at mass, Cindi McEachon, gave us an excellent update on the impact this program has for the men released from prison, so much in need of guidance in their new found freedom.

Timau Mission Update --

We received a Thank You note from Sister Joanne and an update on our three, supported children:  Freddy, Duncan and Wendy.   Click here to read the note and view the photos.

February 2015

Our community mourns with Pam Daniels on the loss of her dear mother, Pat Ciminelli, who passed from this life after suffering a stroke and complications afterward.   Pat was a steadfast participant in our weekly masses despite her infirmities and enjoyed attending our social events wherever she could.   Father Paul celebrated the mass of Christian Burial at Ss. Peter and Paul Church.    
Well done, Pat ... now may you rest in peace.

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Mission Outreach:  
The Lee Gross Anthone Child Advocacy Center

Our community is supporting the center, which reaches out to meet a need that is rarely discussed ... the victims of childhood abuse. This traumatic situation brings with it a host of additional difficulties, including possibly being removed from the home, visiting many professionals in many, repetitive appointments, and possibly missing school for a while.   During this time of need, the CAC assists the children in a very gentle manner at a time when they need it the most.   Our guest speaker, Ms Judith Olin gave us a good overview of the special way in which the CAC helps children with basic needs and much needed counseling at their facility.

  

January 2015 -- Hearts for the Homeless

In January, our community reached out again in support of Hearts for the Homeless in Riverside.  They operate a mobile soup kitchen nearly every night to deliver a hot meal and clothing to the homeless in downtown Buffalo.   Several volunteers from our community, lead by Sheila O'Brien, help prepare hundreds of meals on Tuesdays at their main facility.   Here is a TV news video of the mobile soup kitchen:   http://wivb.com/2015/02/12/frostbite-can-happen-in-minutes/
The story includes a brief interview with Ron Colandra, the director of the outreach mission.

Our donation from the Sunday collections was $3,125.

December 2014 -- Helping Our Neighbors

For the month of December, our community donations are going out to many organizations in need around WNY.   We are providing gifts for the GED students and Veteran students and their families at the Response to Love Center.   Some of the dozens of gifts can be seen behind the Altar as Father "Duke" Zajac delivers his homily on December 7.   Our monetary donations are being presented to soup kitchens and others in the area including:

• Heart, Love and Soul in Niagara Falls
• St. Luke's Mission of Mercy
• The Viet Nam Veterans of America, Chap.77
• South Buffalo Community Table
• A family of six in need, nominated by Father Paul
• A family of three in need, nominated by Sister Fran

During the month, we also thanked our three wonderful priests, Father Paul, Father Jim and Father "Duke" with a donation to help them in this special season as we have relied on them to preside at the Sunday liturgy throughout these seven-plus years of our mission journey.

"Thank You" reception hosted by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Community, December 4, 2014.   

Pam Daniels offers words of praise to Sister Joanne Gangloff and Sister Bea Leising, who dedicate their lives to those in need at the Timau Mission in Kenya.   The Sisters of St. Francis acknowledged the many years of financial support from our Pancake Breakfast and the many families who have adopted children at Timau Mission to help them with education and living necessities.

November 2014 -- Response to Love

Our community supported the Response to Love Center for the month of November.   This outreach organization on the East Side helps provide people hope by providing hot meals during the week, a food pantry, a thrift store and educational opportunity for adults.  This month (on Veteran's Day), a new aspect of Response to Love was commissioned:  A Veterans Educational and Placement Center.        We were able to help the organization with their annual Thanksgiving meal.   For a variety of reasons, the center found itself with a shortage of turkeys for the meal, which serves 200-300 people. Once we heard the appeal, we sent a $1000 donation for the purchase of turkeys on time for them to be cooked and carved for the big feast.    Sister Johnice visited us for mass at the end of the month and was very thankful for the relationship we have fostered over so many years.    Our total donation to the Response to Love Center was $3,275.

Sister Johnice helps prepare the Thanksgiving meal for the neighbors.

 October 2014 -- Timau Mission

The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities have been present in Kenya since 1971, and have been ministering in the ever-growing village of Timan and its environs on the slopes of Mt. Kenya since 1982.  We renewed our support of Sr. Joanne Gangloff and Sr. Bea Leising at Timau Catholic Mission, which includes a preschool and lower primary school for orphans, disadvantaged squatters, migrants and the destitute.  St. Elizabeth school has 200 students and provides a morning meal and cooked lunch at mid-day.   

Our community sponsored the annual pancake breakfast, which was attended by over 120 community members, extended families and friends.   Thanks go out to Leon Calucci, who rented the hall, and the cooking crew managed by John Roba.  Thanks go out to Joanne Montante who made the hall very pleasing for all with her harvest-theme decorations at each table and around the hall.  Mary Miller, Mary Lazickas and Janice Stieffel helped Joanne decorate for this special occasion.  Our community donation from the Sunday collections and the pancake breakfast was $4,000!

Photos from the Getzville Fire Hall - Liturgy and Pancake Breakfast

A note from Sister Joanne and Sister Bea:

Dear JNMC members,  We are very grateful as always for all these past years and for today (tomorrow) how you are working so hard for us to put on such a special event as the annual Pancake breakfast.  We wish we could be there, but we appreciate that Sr Fran and Carol Riniolo will be there in our place.  We thank you for all the hard work that goes into this event and for helping our people so much in their educational pursuits. God bless each and every one of you for your planning, procuring, cooking and seving and all else that goes into making this always such a wonderful event,and of course also Father for celebrating the Mass. Our prayers and best wishes and God bless you always.                    
Sr Joanne and Sr Bea

Here's an update about two of the young boys we support financially at Timau:
Click Here
NEW!   We will now begin our sponsorship of Wendy, a 10 year old girl.
Introducing Wendy
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September 2014 -  South Buffalo Community Table

      Once again, we welcomed Sister Celeste to join us for a Sunday mass during the month of September as we supported the South Buffalo Community Table.  Sister told a touching story of a person who was alone in his apartment and so sad that he would not eat.  As volunteers visited him and brought him food, little by little, he began to eat and recover from the sadness.   He explained to the volunteers that it was not the food that meant so much to him, but rather their visits to keep him company.   And so it is at the South Buffalo Community Table:  people are treated with dignity and enjoy the company they share at the table.
      The South Buffalo Community Table is the only soup kitchen located in South Buffalo.  They serve 60-70  meals seven evenings per week.   They are located in the basement of Good Shepherd Baptist Church on Southside Parkway.   Our community donation to this mission was $2,900.

August 2014 - Beginning Our Eighth Year Living our Faith as a Mission Community

Hopeful Ways - Our Mission for August 2014

Our community provided financial support and the donation of used eyeglasses to this ministry that provides eye care and other medical services to the poor residents of Nicaragua.  Our guest speaker, Jim Carlins, explained that this group of volunteers is an off-shoot of the Nicaragua Mission Project that we have supported for several years.   They have traveled to Nicaragua four times to provide eye care and surgery to several thousand residents in need.   Our community donated dozens of used eyeglasses and our financial support for mission support was $2,650.   They are planning their next trip to Nicaragua in January 2015.

Gloria Thomson

Our dear friend, Gloria Thomson, entered into eternal rest on August 20, 2014 after a six month battle with cancer.  Gloria was one of the "original Newmanites" from the 70's and was a vital contributor to our community in all respects.   We'll always cherish our memories of Gloria and her special sense of humor which complimented her deep faith life and her tireless service.

Following the celebration of her life at the mass at St. Greg's, con-celebrated by Father Paul Steller and Msgr. Dave Lee, Gloria arranged for a special procession song to be played for all to enjoy.  Everyone couldn't help but smile, clap along, and know that Gloria was smiling at us.

Rest in Peace.

Earlier in the same month, the following news article appeared in the Amherst Bee:

Back-to-School Collection for Response to Love

During the month of August, community members donated school supplies for the children who rely on the Response to Love Center, a place lovingly cared for by Sister Johnice.   The children were so excited to receive new backpacks filled with supplies before the new school year.