Thank you to all at St. Mary's for a successful Bridge Week with CARITAS! During the week of May 21 - 28, St. Mary's parishioners along with our friends at Dover Baptist Church, donated and prepared meals, and purchased and assembled Classroom Kits needed for everyday classes for CARITAS Clients. Thanks to your generosity, Jane Marlatt's thoughtful menu planning, the helping hands of lunch bag "packers", and drivers, we were able to deliver nutritious meals to 60 residents in both the emergency shelter and The Healing Place for Women at the new CARITAS Center throughout our Bridge Week. 

"Thank you for bridging the gap and helping us provide our clients with delicious, nutritious meals, essential items and your warm presence," wrote Quelina Jones, Director Community Engagement CARITAS.

The Outreach Ministry Committee will partner with CARITAS to plan another Bridge Week this September or October. We hope you will continue to join us in this wonderful opportunity to serve CARITAS.

Thank you to everyone who donated cleaning supplies to our friends at Gateway Homes! Gateway Homes helps individuals with serious mental illness recover, maintain psychiatric stability, return to work or school, and move into independent living housing in the community. These cleaning supplies will greatly benefit Gateway's clients who live in the Support Living Center on their Chesterfield Campus. 

The Outreach Ministry Committee is gearing up for an opportunity to assist GoochlandCARES in their Clothes Closet. There is a training session at GoochlandCARES scheduled for Sunday, August 15 at 11:30 a.m., following our Sunday service. If you are interested in joining us for training, please contact Charmaine Trice via email. Once trained, these leaders will then have the opportunity to gather more parishioners one Sunday a month to help out in the Clothes Closet. We hope you will join us!

"The YMCA makes strengthening our communities our cause. We strongly believe that children who have the necessities they need to succeed can focus on learning rather than worrying about having shoes to wear on the playground and crayons to color their assignments. Though our 2021 program will look different, the Y is bringing Bright Beginnings to our families who need it most to make for confident and prepared kids on the first day of school."  

Goochland Family YMCA, one of our Outreach Community Partners, has the opportunity to provide a Bright Beginning for 80 children in Goochland County. Financial donations can be made through this link: 

https://www.ymcarichmond.org/donate. Please include "YMCA Bright Beginnings" in the comment section.

Or, contact Jan Kenney, Goochland YMCA Executive Director at kennyj@ymcarichmond.org or (804) 556-9887 to learn about others ways you can participate by volunteering or filling a backpack. Backpacks and financial contributions need to be returned no later than Monday, July 19. Also learn more by downloading this informational flyer.

Circles RVA provides the social network, financial tools and emotional encouragement that activate economic growth for hard working individuals living with poverty. In this way, Circles is not merely managing life with limited resources. Instead, we are working to truly break the cycle of poverty for Richmond families. "We will be launching a new class of participants this September, which means we are also actively recruiting volunteers to serve as Allies. Volunteer Allies build an intentional friendship with a Circle Leader to support his/her journey to meet goals to achieve economic stability."

If you are interested in learning more about becoming an Ally, please contact Kristin Blalock, Community Coordinator, at (804) 245-1469.