St. Mary’s (Lancaster, NY) Ladies of Charity have once again returned to holding monthly meetings in the Parish Center and have been working hard on service projects to bring joy to those they serve.
Over the Christmas holiday season our young ladies “adopted” two large refugee families from Afghanistan, dividing into teams and sharing shopping assignments to make sure each family member received an abundance of gifts, including a new set of pots and pans for each family.
The girls continued supporting their friends at Gerard Place by collecting cleaning supplies and personal care items, using the items to create gift packages for all 10 families residing there. They also provided a new toy for each child.
In addition, the girls stuffed 18 Christmas stockings full of goodies for students of the 2nd grade class they adopted from Buffalo Public School #6.
Our Juniors also brought several dozen Christmas cut out cookies from home which they frosted and decorated at the meeting. The 80 residents at Symphony Manor in Lancaster each received a package of cookies to enjoy. Of course, the girls enjoyed eating all the broken cookies!
In January, two of the Juniors painted and decorated 16 wooden snowmen and distributed them to Gerard Place families as well as to some of their friends at Symphony Manor to decorate the Activity Room.
In late January, during the terrible cold snap, our Diocesan Ladies of Charity generously donated brand new hats, gloves and scarves to the 2nd graders at Public School #6 on behalf of the Juniors. Their teacher, Miss Paula, said the children were thrilled with the unexpected gift of warmth!
In February the Juniors focused their attention on Valentine’s Day and made cards for all the residents at Symphony Manor and provided candy treat bags for the residents. They also provided Valentines to the 2nd graders of P.S. #6.
The girls are making plans for other service projects they hope to work on over the next several months.
Submitted by Marian Snyder
Source: St. Mary’s Messenger, St. Mary of the Assumption R.C. Church, Spring 2022
How special the Lancaster Junior Ladies of Charity are to their community!! Sharing your talents with others reflects the spirit of your love & concern for those we know as our brothers & sisters. Thanks to your leaders for all they do to keep the Vincentian spirit alive in this special group of young ladies.