July 2016
Hispanic Migrant Ministry
June 2016
Timau Mission
The Timau Mission in Kenya was our mission for the month of June. Sister Bea Leising spoke to the community during one of our masses and thanked all of us for years of continual support. She explained how vital our support is for the children in school there, since part of the school day includes the only nutritious meal that the children receive. She also explained how fortunate the children are in the school, since only 46% of the population receives a formal education. Sister Joanne expressed her thanks by way of Sister Bea, but she will return to the USA later this summer. Sister Fran joined Sister Bea at mass. Our donation for the month of June was $3,075. This does not include our community support for three "foster" children, and the private support from many community members for additional "foster" children.
Ride for Roswell
May 2016
Response to Love Center
April 2016
Friends of Night People
March 2016
St. Luke's Mission of Mercy
In this Year of Mercy, it is only fitting that our community, once again, supports St. Luke's Mission of Mercy. This organization provides much needed shelter for the homeless, food and drink for the needy, clothing for those who have fallen on hard times, education for the young, and housing in and around the mission. The organization relies solely on private donations. This past winter, there were several nights of extreme cold, and the mission opens it's doors for the homeless, providing a place to stay and a hot meal. Our community donation was $2,575.
Lenten Discussion Groups
This year, many members of our community met on Saturdays during Lent to discuss chapters of the book Rediscover Jesus, by Matthew Kelly. Our first meeting was at Sorrentino's, followed by Peg Riexinger hosting a meeting at her home. Then a large group gathered at Lois and Dick Sullivan's home. Finally, on the Feast of St. Joseph, Joanne Montante and John Roba hosted a St. Joseph Table with twenty people in attendance. Our discussions were quite profound as we connected with the book and with each other regarding our unique faith journeys. In many ways, we all had the opportunity to Rediscover Jesus in a more personal way.
February 2016
South Buffalo Community Table
Community Fun Time --
In late February, Ralph Mercuri arranged for our community to have a hayride and some indoor fun at Kelkenburg Farm in Clarence. In this mile winter, we had to forego the sleigh ride in favor of the horse-drawn hayride. Good snacks were available for our group as the socializing continued.
January 2016
Harvest House
December 2015
Christmas Outreach
Hispanic Migrant Ministry
Our community will support hundreds of Hispanic Migrant Workers who come to work on the farms of WNY every summer. .... more to follow ....
Thanks to the hospitality of Bender's Christian Store, we found a new home for our summer tent masses. Due to the planned sale of the property on Main Street, the Sisters of St. Joseph were unable to accommodate us this summer.
June 2016
Timau Mission
The Timau Mission in Kenya was our mission for the month of June. Sister Bea Leising spoke to the community during one of our masses and thanked all of us for years of continual support. She explained how vital our support is for the children in school there, since part of the school day includes the only nutritious meal that the children receive. She also explained how fortunate the children are in the school, since only 46% of the population receives a formal education. Sister Joanne expressed her thanks by way of Sister Bea, but she will return to the USA later this summer. Sister Fran joined Sister Bea at mass. Our donation for the month of June was $3,075. This does not include our community support for three "foster" children, and the private support from many community members for additional "foster" children.Ride for Roswell
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| Team Newman Captain Irene Stevens helped organize our team. The team helped collect $7000 in donations for Roswell. Thank you for the community's support for the Ride for Roswell. Each rider carried a list of names (182) who are battling the disease, and those who remain with us in our hearts. |
May 2016
Response to Love Center
The Response to Love Center was one of the first missions that we supported in our first year of formation, and once again, we collected funds for Sister Johnice and the good volunteers at the Center. Sister Johnice recognized our community's support over the years with a special award at the annual Benefit of Love Dinner. Jack Leo was presented with the award on behalf of the entire community and more than thirty community members attended the dinner. The citation on the Prayer and Action Award reads: "Let us ask the Lord to help us to take an ever more active part in the Church's life and mission, guided by the Holy Spirit and with Jesus as our cornerstone". ... Pope Francis. At the dinner, our community presented Sister Johnice with our donation of $3,350.
April 2016
Friends of Night People
Our community will focus our attention on the good work being done in Buffalo by this organization, which provides hundreds of meals to the needy from several locations. The Director, Joe Healy, spoke with us on April 10th. Our month-long collections amounted to $2,250. We thank Paul and Ro Sugg for their many years of volunteering at "Friends" and for coordinating our community outreach with this organization.
Sacraments: Three young members of our Family Religious Education program received the sacrament of their first Reconciliation with Father Paul and Msgr. David Lee. The sacrament was given on April 2 at St. Mary's Chapel. Pictured here are Ella Rassman, Georgia Zorich and Declan Lee along with Father Paul and Msgr. Dave.
March 2016
St. Luke's Mission of Mercy
Lenten Discussion Groups
This year, many members of our community met on Saturdays during Lent to discuss chapters of the book Rediscover Jesus, by Matthew Kelly. Our first meeting was at Sorrentino's, followed by Peg Riexinger hosting a meeting at her home. Then a large group gathered at Lois and Dick Sullivan's home. Finally, on the Feast of St. Joseph, Joanne Montante and John Roba hosted a St. Joseph Table with twenty people in attendance. Our discussions were quite profound as we connected with the book and with each other regarding our unique faith journeys. In many ways, we all had the opportunity to Rediscover Jesus in a more personal way.
Holy Week and Easter
Thanks to our three priests, Father Jim, Father "Duke" and Father Paul, and thanks to the extra work provided by dozens of community members, we commemorated Holy Week from Palm Sunday to the Holy Thursday Seder, to the solemn remembrance of Good Friday, to the joyful celebration of the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday!
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| The Seder, Lead by Father Paul |
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| Good Friday Meditations, Prayer and Communion, Lead by Father "Duke" |
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| The Easter Vigil with Father Jim |
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| The Beauty of the Easter Vigil thanks to the Mischler's |
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| Mary DeWald Our Liturgist, with Paul DeWald and Father Jim |
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| Easter Morning Mass, with Father Paul |
February 2016
South Buffalo Community Table
Once again, our community supported the South Buffalo Community Table in their mission of mercy: feeding the hungry of South Buffalo. Their funding comes solely from private donations. They reach out to feed hundreds each week with a hot meal and a friendly environment. They provide friendship and kindness to those who feel the pain of poverty. Shown below is Sister Kristen (left) and a team of volunteers. Our community donation was $2,150 after our Sunday collections.
Community Fun Time --
In late February, Ralph Mercuri arranged for our community to have a hayride and some indoor fun at Kelkenburg Farm in Clarence. In this mile winter, we had to forego the sleigh ride in favor of the horse-drawn hayride. Good snacks were available for our group as the socializing continued.
January 2016
Harvest House
As this new year unfolds, our community is reaching out to help Harvest House, which is working it's way through some difficult financial times. The expansion of the adult leaning center has been a success, but the construction costs overran the budget, and the contractor failed to complete the project correctly. Faced with this problem, there was no choice but to fix all the problems with other companies, which drained all their financial resources.
Our friends, Gary and Linda Tatu made an urgent appeal to past supporters and friends to help them recover. Harvest House now helps nearly 6,000 children with clothing, safe cribs, car seats and other necessities; they provide free health care, dental care and vision care for over 2,000 people without insurance (and those who cannot afford their co-payments); and they have accommodated 2,500 adult students this past year in the school, helping them get living-wage jobs. Our community donated $5,600 to Harvest House during our Sunday mass collections, plus $2,000 from the dozens of Bottles for Babies turned in during 2015.
December 2015
Christmas Outreach
Our community donations this month will aid several families in need as recommended by Father Paul and Sister Fran. Father Jim also requested aid be sent to a clean water project sponsored by the Felician Sisters in Haiti.
Local organizations will receive $1,000 donations for their continued outreach in our local area:
- Hearts for the Homeless
- Buffalo Peace House
- South Buffalo Food Pantry
- Hearts, Love and Soul
The message reads:
Dear John Newman Mission Community Leadership and Members,
As we approach this blessed season , a heartfelt thank you for all you have
done for us. We appreciate your
sacrifices to give these children education and for all that goes into the
annual pancake breakfast. We thank each
and everyone of you for attending and donating, those who procure the goods and
do the setting up and cleaning up, those who cook and serve the breakfast, and
all who helped in any way to make the event such a great success once again.
God bless you all. May the love of the
Christ Child warm your hearts and give you blessings, peace, and enjoyment all
during the Christmas season and the New Year.
Merry Christmas. Sr. Joanne and
Sr. Bea
November 2015
Foundation for Children in Need
We were honored to hear from Mr. Tom Chitta, co-founder of the Foundation for Children in Need in late September while he visited the USA. In November, our community donations will support the FCN as they provided much-needed assistance to children, college students and adults in the rural areas of India. Our community members voluntarily signed up to support twelve children following Tom's appeal. And our Sunday donations in November will go a long way to help more children as FCN makes a huge impact in basic needs for nutrition and medical needs as well as education. The total donation was $2,275 in addition to the support given to twelve children.
Timau Mission is the mission receiving our support in October. The mission runs a school and training facilities for young adults, as well as a refuge for families in need. Sister Joanne Gangloff is our primary contact in Kenya, and she has given us updates on our three children, who receive our financial support. Our Pancake Breakfast in support of Timau was held on October 18th and was enjoyed by all! |
| Duncan |
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| Freddy and Wendy |
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The pancake breakfast was held for the first time at the Clarence town park clubhouse. A big "Thanks" to John Roba, Steve Hanley and a host of volunteers who gave the time and cooking talent to make it a great success.
This summary of the Pancake Breakfast was submitted by Ginny Hanley:
Our annual pancake breakfast in support of the Timau Mission in Kenya, Africa took place on Sunday, October 18, 2015. As in years past, a small group from JNMC shopped, donated all the food and supplies, and cooked an outstanding breakfast including blueberry and regular pancakes, sausages, fruit, beverages,and a wide variety of coffee cakes and desserts baked by our community members.
This all-volunteer event was a huge success! With the money donated at thebreakfast plus our monthly collections, we were able to send $4175 to the Timau Mission. Our new venue this year was the casino at Clarence Town Park, and with the creative gifts of some of our members, it was beautifully decorated in a variety of bright fall colors and centerpieces. Our speaker was Cindy Munschauer from the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities who administer and staff the mission in Kenya.
In addition, we renewed our financial support for our three children at Timau: Freddy, Duncan and Wendy. The annual support fee is $1,080.
Our annual pancake breakfast in support of the Timau Mission in Kenya, Africa took place on Sunday, October 18, 2015. As in years past, a small group from JNMC shopped, donated all the food and supplies, and cooked an outstanding breakfast including blueberry and regular pancakes, sausages, fruit, beverages,and a wide variety of coffee cakes and desserts baked by our community members.
This all-volunteer event was a huge success! With the money donated at thebreakfast plus our monthly collections, we were able to send $4175 to the Timau Mission. Our new venue this year was the casino at Clarence Town Park, and with the creative gifts of some of our members, it was beautifully decorated in a variety of bright fall colors and centerpieces. Our speaker was Cindy Munschauer from the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities who administer and staff the mission in Kenya.
In addition, we renewed our financial support for our three children at Timau: Freddy, Duncan and Wendy. The annual support fee is $1,080.
Confirmation: October 14, 2015
September 2015
The Vietnam Veterans of America, Post 77 in Tonawanda was our selected mission, which received our financial support. They provide food and counseling referrals to Veterans from all wars. They also help organize service projects to help disabled Veterans in their homes. Our donation from our Sunday collections was $2,075 to help this worthy organization.
An Evening with the Veterans at the VA Hospital
In early October, our music ministry, lead by Mary DeWald, visited the VA Hospital for an evening of song. Jack Michael made the arrangements, and our singers responded with enthusiasm. It's another good example of living our faith in the manner that Jesus, and Pope Francis both encourage us.
An Evening with the Veterans at the VA Hospital
In early October, our music ministry, lead by Mary DeWald, visited the VA Hospital for an evening of song. Jack Michael made the arrangements, and our singers responded with enthusiasm. It's another good example of living our faith in the manner that Jesus, and Pope Francis both encourage us.
August 2015
Our mission support this month went to the Nicaragua Mission Project, lead by Ann Marie Zon. Our community has supported this outreach mission for many years, as we help serve the basic needs of the people living in the second poorest country of the Western Hemisphere. Our community donated clothing and other goods in great demand, which were all packed at the project support site on Transit Road. More than 1,000 boxes of goods are packed every week, with Luanne and Jack Leo being regular volunteers at the work site. Due to the high demand and low supply of boxes, an urgent appeal went out for empty boxes, and many community members donated large numbers of boxes. The largest quantity was donated by John Roba's business in Clarence, where hundreds of empty boxes were made available. Our financial support amounted to $2,500, which was greatly appreciated. As Ann Marie said: "Simply put, we couldn't do it without you."+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our community also reached out to help two additional organizations during the month of August:
-- The Response to Love Center and Sister Johnice, with donations of back-to-school items for the young people, whose parents are part of the community on the East Side. Plenty of backpacks filled with paper, pencils, notebooks and other items were given to Sister and Mike Gilhooly when they attended mass late in the month.
-- Harvest House and Gary and Linda Tatu, with donations of items for the basket raffle and silent auction, which were presented to supporters at the fundraising dinner in October. Our community donated a gas grill (thanks to Perry Figliotti), an electric cook top (thanks to Mary and Dale Gould), a carved bird (by woodcarver Tom Stoddard, and dozens of quality items for the basket raffle,
The Newman Community -- Annual Picnic
Thanks to the wonderful planning and hands-on, expert service from Diane and Ralph Mercuri, our community enjoyed a festive day at Sunset Park in Clarence.
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