Dear OSJ Family,
Faith, Food and Friends, our parish outreach ministry will take a short summer break and reopen again on Tuesday, August 23rd. Accordingly, on behalf of our parish, I want to thank its coordinator, parishioner, Mary Freedman and her fine cast of volunteers and staff who every day , make our outreach program a success.
Remarkably, Mary reports that FF&F was opened 130 days this year while 7,100 meals were prepared and served by 72 volunteers who kindly donated over 360 hours.
Moreover, various community groups and businesses provided meals or donated food. These generous benefactors included; Beneficial Bank, Berkshire Hathaway Fox Roach, and the Ancient Order of the Hibernians. Additionally, we also offer thanks to the Soultoukis’ for organizing the annual Thanksgiving Day meal that benefits so many.
You should know that in addition to the good food served, the mail drop and book loaning services continued. Outside of lunch, Mary reports that these are the most used services of the program. And again, though the generosity of so many in our parish. We were able to provide our guests with backpacks, socks and toiletries.
Finally we offer thanks to Matthew Menard and the health professionals at Penn Medicine who presented monthly programs on health topics and a special thank you to the Saturday Spirituality Session leaders – Cynthia Locke, Carolyn Lyons, John Trumbore, Fr. Dougherty, and Stephen Paesani who offered our guests an opportunity for quiet reflection, prayer and spiritual discussion.
Again, many, many thanks for all of the support and hard work this year. Please think about joining us at FF& F and please consider a small financial gift to keep this outreach program functioning and flourishing!
God Bless,
Fr Phil Florio,SJ
