The Charity and Justice Ministry Team plans and coordinates our parish's effort to reach out to those in need by providing assistance. Over the last year they have brought food to the needy, worked with the homeless shelter, collected gifts at holiday time and collected clothes for needy infants. They also are charged with the task of working to help the needy help themselves. This Ministry Team has about 10 meetings a year (on the second Tuesday of the month). Members who volunteer for this ministry make a commitment for one year.
To request more information about the CHARITY & JUSTICE TEAM CLICK HERE
1. CROP Walk:
(Early October)
The CROP Walk was formed to raise awareness and funds to help local hunger-fighting agencies as well as the international relief and development efforts of Church World Service. Locally, we have a three-mile walk in the downtown Brighton area. Participants in the walk obtain sponsors who support the CROP walkers by making a monetary donation. CROP walks build communities by bringing together people of all ages and of all faiths to help stop hunger.
2. Right to Life - Life Chain:
(Early October)
In an effort to support the protection of the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, pro-life groups join together to form a human prayer chain along Grand River Avenue for an hour of prayer. It is an international hour of prayer which is coordinated throughout the United States and Canada.
3. R.E.A.C.H. Homeless Shelter:
(End of October)
The Salvation Army sponsors the R.E.A.C.H. program in which churches throughout the area take turns hosting homeless clients beginning in the fall and ending in the spring. St. Mary Magdalen hosts the R.E.A.C.H. shelter for a one week period in late October. As a host facility, we provide transportation from the Salvation Army to our church at the end of the work day. We then provide the clients with dinner and evening hosts spend a couple of hours after dinner with the clients with such activities as playing cards, board games or just talking. Overnight chaperones are scheduled each night. In the morning, we provide breakfast and a ride back to the Salvation Army.
4. Clothing Drive:
(Mid-November and Mid-April or May)
The society of St. Vincent DePaul, a Catholic lay organization provides services to those who are needy and suffering. One way in which they assist is by opening thrift stores to provide area residents with an affordable place to purchase clothing. In November and April/May, St. Vincent DePaul delivers a truck or POD (which sits lower to the ground than a truck) to the parking lot of St. Mary Magdalen for a weekend. Parishioners are invited to donate bags of gently used clothing to assist in the St. Vincent DePaul thrift store operation.
5.International Bazaar:
(Mid-November)
A small faith-sharing group from St. Mary Magdalen hosts a fair selling the work of artisans from third world countries. The sale is in cooperation with Catholic Relief Services and work of Human Hands.
6. Right to Life Christmas Card Sale
(November)
Right to Life of Michigan is a nonprofit organization of people united to protect the precious gift of human life from conception to natural death. One way in which Right to Life of Livingston County raises financial support is through the sale of Christmas cards. St. Mary Magdalen sells cards for Right to Life in the gathering area for a weekend or two in November.
7. Colleting Christmas Cards for Inmates:
(November)
In November, during the same weekend(s) that we sell Right to Life Christmas cards, we also set out a box to collect Christmas cards for inmates. The cards are divided into small groups and are packaged with a pen and stamps, and provided to the inmates so that they may send Christmas cards to their loved ones.
8. Warm the Children
(November)
The Warm the Children program is a co-operative effort of newspapers and the communities they serve which provides new winter clothing for the children of needy families. Beginning in the fall each year the newspaper asks its readers for monetary donations to the newspaper's Warm the Children Fund which is used exclusively to buy new winter clothing for needy children in the newspaper's community. The newspaper arranges with a local social service agency, or the local school to provide the newspaper with the names and contact information of needy families. Volunteer shoppers are recruited from the community and churches. These volunteer shoppers meet the families at local stores and take them shopping for warm clothing spending $80 per child. The Ann Arbor News is the local paper which coordinates this program in our area.
9. Advent Giving Tree:
(December)
During the season of Advent, St. Mary Magdalen collects items to be provided to various organizations at Christmas. We set up a Christmas tree on the first Sunday of Advent in the gathering space and place tags on the tree. Each tag lists an item and the organization requesting the item. Parishioners take the tag from the tree, purchase the item, return the item with the tag attached and place it under the tree. The items are then delivered to the various locations. Some of the organizations that we provide items to are as follows: Maxey Boys Training School, St. Anne Church and Mary Lou Brown mission in Detroit, LACASA (local spousal abuse shelter), Pregnancy Help Clinic, Livingston County Catholic Social Services, St. Agnes Parish in Flint, and the Salvation Army.
10. Easter Tree of Life:
(Feb./March)
During the Lenten season, St. Mary Magdalen collects items to be provided to the local senior centers. We set up a tree in the gathering space and place tags on the tree. Each tag lists an item and the senior center requesting the item. Parishioners take the tag from the tree, purchase the item, return the item with the tag attached and places it under the tree. The items are then delivered to the various senior centers. Some of the senior centers that we provide items to are as follows: Medilodge, Independence Village, Hartland Senior Center and others.
11. Right to Life Carnation Sale:
(May)
On Mother's Day, St. Mary Magdalen along with other local churches, sell carnations for $1 per stem to raise support funds for Livingston County Right to Life.
12. Pregnancy Help Clinic:
(June)
Crib and Dresser Project: During three consecutive weekends in June, we set up a crib and baby dresser in the gathering space to collect needed baby items. Pregnancy Help Clinic provides a list of items needed for a newborn baby. We make tags and place them on the crib and dresser. Parishioners take the tags, purchase the items and return them with the tags attached. After the due date, the crib, dresser and baby items are delivered to Pregnancy Help Clinic.
Baby Bottle Boomerang: Along with the dresser project, Pregnancy Help Clinic provides us with baby bottles with tags tied to them. The tags explain that the bottles are to be filled with change and returned. The money is used to purchase products such as baby formula and other needed items. Upon completion of the project, the filled bottles are taken to Pregnancy Help Clinic with the items from the dresser project.
PREGNANCY HELPLINE LOCATION:
7743 W. Grand River Ste 101
Brighton, MI 48114
(810) 494 - 5433
--- Serving anyone in need. Free and Confidentially Pregnancy Test, Ultrasound, Nurse Consultation, Counseling, Post-abortion Counseling, Dad's Program, Material Goods, Parenting Education, Mom's Group.
13. Summer Collection for Salvation Army:
(July)
Salvation Army social services programs meet the basic needs of daily life for those without the resources to do so themselves. The programs provide food, shelter, clothing, financial assistance to pay utilities and other necessities based on the need. One way in which St. Mary Magdalen assists the Salvation Army is to take up what we call our Summer Collection. Many of us travel throughout the summer and purchase basic travel necessities such as shampoo, soap, hair conditioner, etc. We ask the members of our parish to collect a few extra items for donation to the Salvation Army. The Chair contacts the Salvation Army to obtain a list of other items they are in need of, such as laundry detergent. These items are listed in the bulletin. The items we collect are provided to the Salvation Army to assist in providing for the basic needs of others.
14. Food Collection / Distribution:
1(Year-Round)
St. Mary Magdalen collects food in a large cart the gathering space each weekend. After the 11:00 mass, the food is delivered to local and Detroit area food banks. Some of the places we serve are Mary Lou Brown Mission in Detroit, St. Ann's Catholic Church in Detroit, Shared Harvest Pantry and Gleaners Food Bank.
15. Panera Bread
(Year-Round)
Panera Bread donates bread products to St. Mary Magdalen. The bread is delivered to a nursing home in Milford by one of our parishioners.
16. VG Receipts / Meal Deals:
(Year-Round)
St. Mary Magdalen has a box in the gathering space where parishioners may donate their receipts from VG shopping center. The receipts are collected and taken to VG's and a percentage is then donated to the parish. We use money from VG receipts to fund our Charity and Justice needs, which includes providing for the needy in our own parish and others. We also watch the VG fliers for Meal Deals where we can purchase an entire meal and get a second similar meal for free. The free meals are delivered to Deacon Dave who ensures that a family from our parish receives the meal.
17. Prison Ministry:
(Year-Round)
There are several areas where St. Mary Magdalen parish is becoming more involved in prison ministries. There is a small group of women who meet at one of the women's facilities for Bible study. We are also becoming involved with assisting our local parolees in read justing back into society. There are new programs being developed hrough a local judge to assist in driving people to appointments, and assisting in other ways.
18. Pax Christi: Pax Christi USA strives to create a world that reflects the Peace of Christ by exploring, articulating and witnessing to the call of Christian nonviolence. Pax Christi USA rejects war, preparations for war and every form of violence and domination. It advocates primacy of conscience, economic and social justice and respect for creation. Pax Christi commits itself to peace. Through the efforts of all its members and in cooperation with other groups, Pax Christi USA works toward a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
Beattitudes Pax Christi:
This group was established by a group of St. Mary Magdalen parishioners. They are the first and only Pax Christi group in Livingston County. They meet once a month and anyone is invited to join. Some of their accomplishments thus far have been:
1. They began an education process in the gathering space to distribute information.
2. They erected a Peace Pole on the property of St. Mary Magdalen which displays the word peace in four different languages.
3. They are strong advocates for Fair Trade programs through which disadvantaged artisans, farmers and farm workers receive fair compensation for the goods they produce.
19.God's Kitchen:
Year-Round)
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Howell hosts God's Kitchen which serves free, nutritious meals to those in need on Wednesdays from 6-7p.m. On the fourth Wed. of the month, St. Mary Magdalen parish serves food and supplies desserts for God's Kitchen.
20. Education:
(Year-Round)
Assist in education of our parishioners on topics of Catholic social teachings and social justice.
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