Neighborhood Churches Give to the Less Fortunate

The spirit of giving was most evident at various local houses of worship during the holiday season with collections of toys, books, baby clothing, socks, and money being donated and distributed to the needy both far and near.

Each year the Parish of St. Mary Star of the Sea in Carroll Gardens chooses a different charity to benefit from their holiday giving. For Christmas 2018 they chose Christian Help in Park Slope (CHiPS), a food kitchen and shelter for young mothers and children. SMSS parishioner, lector and trustee Teresa Vargas coordinated the collection effort. With a NYPD police escort provided by 76th Precinct’s P.O. Aparicio, Sgt. Manto and Det. Marrone of Community Affairs, St. Mary’s Pastor Father Chris Cashman, Ms. Vargas and Rectory Office Manager Debbie Russo (all pictured above) delivered diapers, wipes, baby clothing, warm clothing items for men, and $280 in gift cards donated by SMSS parishioners to the facility on Fourth Avenue and DeGraw Streets on December 11th. The CHiPS Food Pantry serves up to 350 meals daily and the Frances Residency Program provides transitional housing for nine prenatal and postpartum homeless women for a year, as they work or go to school with the end goal of becoming self-reliant and obtaining permanent housing.

The congregation at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Carroll Street held a book drive to collect new books for children ages 4 - 18. The books were delivered to the Miccio Center for distribution to children in the Red Hook area in time for Christmas. St. Paul’s also collected new socks through the beginning of the new year to be distributed to the homeless at CHiPS throughout the winter months. And their Sunday School also conducted a food drive that was extended to the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th to benefit the food pantry at First Presbyterian Church

Members of Redemption Church Red Hook was also very busy during the holiday season, partnering with Trellis, a nonprofit organization addressing economic, ethnic and criminal injustice through collaboration, and hosting their first Helping Hands Toy Store which provided toys to 494 children in Red Hook, Gowanus and Downtown Brooklyn. Redemption Church also participated in a coat give-away and a party for the children at The Red Hook Neighborhood School/ P.S. 676.

The Parish of St. Paul and St. Agnes donated in multiple ways, too, by sending twelve huge garbage bags filled with toys to be distributed to children by Catholic Charities, baby items to Frances House at CHiPs, clothing and toys to Life of Hope in East Flatbush which ministers to the Haitian community, cash to two bishops in Haiti to help those in need there, toys and financial assistance to local families in need, and 188 coats to the NY Cares Coat Drive.

Over at Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary/St. Stephen’s Church, there was also a variety of giving with the the annual giving tree in the back of the church from which parishioners took Christmas tags listing requests for toys, CDs, and clothing for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be distributed through HeartShare Human Services. As in years past, that drive was coordinated by lifelong parishioner Joann Martino. The Men’s Fellowship Group collected and shipped five 55 gallon barrels filled with school supplies, toys, games, sports equipment, detergents and religious education materials needed to set up a CCD program to St. Theresa of the Child of Jesus Parish in Abor, Ghana and to the Church of Holy Rosary in Adenta, Ghana. Two former SHSS priests, Father Victor Ashiagbor and Father Cletus Forson, are assigned to those parishes respectively. Anthony Troiano of the SHSS Men’s Fellowship commented “I am very pleased to say that this will be an ongoing program with shipments to Ghana throughout the upcoming year.” The children of SHSS’s CCD program participated in an outreach program of their own by designing and sending T-shirts with messages of Christmas, friendship, and life in New York to the children of St. Theresa of the Child of Jesus.

The abundance of goodwill exhibited by our local churches during the holiday season was surely appreciated by those on the receiving end and undoubtedly was rewarding for those who gave so generously. It’s also nice to know that in some cases, the generosity will continue through the new year.