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Ste-Anne Parish
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Reach Out To Reynosa
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Mission Outline,
In the year 2000 I was the chair of the finance committee at St Anne’s and
a parishioner named Brian Dupuis came to ask for financial help with a
project he was involved in. He and a group of people from Calvary
community church in Tecumseh had been going down to Reynosa Mexico each
year to build houses. They made a short presentation and left it with us.
After some discussion with Fr.Larry we decided to help them with a
donation but Kelly Michaelis, another member of the finance committee, and
I felt maybe we could do more. One of the other committee members, Pat
Brecka, has an uncle who is a retired missionary Priest in Texas along the
Mexican border. She contacted him to ask if he knew of any Priest in the
border area of Mexico that needed any help. As it turned out Fr. Gerry
Shanley of the order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary had just been
assigned to San Fillipe de Jesus a cluster parish in Reynosa. In May of
2001 Fr. Larry decided that Kelly and I should go down to Reynosa, meet Fr
Gerry and come back with a report. After seeing the living conditions
first hand we knew we needed to do something and started to put together
the first attempt at a mission project, Fr. Gerry had suggested a school.
We asked for volunteers to go down and help build a school for the people
of San Fillipe and the response was great. It was now June of 2001 and we
were determined to go down in November of that year. After a whirlwind of
activities and fund raising we managed to go down with 16 volunteers and
our associate Pastor Fr. John with $32,000.00. The money raised built a
6-room schoolhouse.
The next year 2002 we had more time to organize and make appeals for
donations so the fund raising earned us $38,000.00. We also had a change
in our Priests that year which saw Fr. Robert come in as Pastor and Fr.
Ray as his associate. They got behind the project right away and continued
to support us in our efforts. It was going in the right direction and we
managed to get 18 men to go down with Fr. Ray and build another school at
Our Lady of the Light parish.
In 2003 we had a very good idea of what worked and what didn’t for fund
raising. We decided to have three fundraisers that year a Ho Down, a Golf
Tournament, and a Pasta diner. We also had pledge sheets made for the
volunteers to approach family and friends with, as well as two parish
appeals, a campaign at our feeder schools, and a lottery run by one of our
parishioners. In total we managed to raise $43,000.00 for the project.
That year we went to Our Lady of the Assumption parish with 16 men and Fr.
Ray and built a two-story five-classroom school.
In 2004 we had the biggest project yet. Fr. Gerry needed a church/ school/
community center it was by far the largest project to date. That year Fr.
Robert came down as our group leader along with 14 men and we managed to
get that off the ground and also build three small homes for parishioners
who had been selected through a lottery. It was also our most successful
year of fundraising. We managed to raise $50,000.00 that year.
We were able once again to raise $35,000 in 2005 and we went down with 20
men led by Fr. Robert again to finish painting the now complete parish
/school of Blessed Damien of Molokai. We also built two more homes and
furnished three of the parish’s with new altars. All of us were on hand
the night the local Bishop consecrated the church and it was once again a
very gratifying experience.
In 2006 the economy was not the best in Windsor and the fundraising was
difficult, after eight months of efforts we were only at $20,000 but as
usual the Holy Spirit came through. We had one of our most respected
mission volunteers John Staley make an appeal at the Church and that
appeal netted us another $10,000 and along with that in the last two weeks
before we left some anonymous donors came up with another $10,000 so our
total was again a respectable $40,0000.This money built one small home for
a widow with six children and started the construction of Our Lady of the
Assumption parish.
In 2007 our own parish was in the midst of a huge renovation project and
fund raising was again difficult, but once again with the help of the Holy
Spirit we raised $25,000 to finish the construction of the Church started
in 2006. The money is also being used to help Fr. Gerry continue his
wonderful ministry to the poorest of the poor, to those imprisoned in the
local jail, to the children in the two local orphanages, and of course to
help the many people in his four parishes in Reynosa.
In 2008 we are having three fundraisers for the Reynosa outreach. They
will be a Golf tournament on June the 7th, a carwash in July (date to
follow) and a parish fish fry in September (date also to follow). We are
once again hopeful that we can raise much needed moneys to help Fr. Gerry
continue to maintain what we have built and continue to be a living
example of Christ to all the people he helps with the financial support
our parish provides.
We are very grateful for all the support the parish has given us, from Fr.
Robert and his staff, to each one of our brothers and sisters in the
parish family who have assisted us financially, and those who have kept
our spirits up through their constant prayers and words of encouragement.
Thank you all once again
St. Anne’s “Reach out to Reynosa” Team
For
more information on our “Reach out to Reynosa” project, please
contact...
Paul Pignal
PHOTO |
Ste-Anne's
continues offering support to Mexico...
For the past nine
years members of Ste- Anne’s Church have worked through the St.
Vincent de Paul Society to provide assistance to those less
fortunate living in Reynosa, Mexico. To date, the team has... |
READ
FULL STORY HERE |
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