Daughter of Wisdom Award $5000 Grant to St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church Outreach Ministry
The Daughters of Wisdom have awarded a $5000 grant to St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church Outreach Ministry to support the educational component of this ministry to those most in need. Located in Port Jefferson Station, this outreach has been helping needy families in an ever-increasing, low-income population, extending into the towns of Selden, Centereach, Coram, and beyond.
Before the pandemic, the outreach was helping 80 to 90 families per month, but post-pandemic, they serve 200 to 250 families, providing food, clothing, and other essentials to families and individuals.
The grant will bolster this support by providing community educational classes for the outreach clients, including parenting classes, budgeting programs, classes on mental health strategies, and career counseling. “This is a safe environment for them, to be in a church setting, so they’ll feel more comfortable to ask certain questions. So that maybe eventually, they might not need the food pantry. But if they’re not given the tools, then they won’t be able to get out of certain situations that they’re in,” said Jennifer Donnellon, Office Manager/Outreach Coordinator. “I just thought it would be great to be able to help the community that way, for our church to be a place for people to grow and hopefully have a better future.” Planning for the programs will begin following the outreach ministry’s busy Christmas season of supporting families in need, and the presentations will be spread out over the next two years.
Jennifer added, “My motto is being the hands and feet of Jesus out to the world. You don’t have to be saving the world, but just by being kind to somebody else, that’s what Jesus really wants us to do, and I really try to instill that in the volunteers.”
The Outreach program provides clients 3-day standard food bags, meat, and perishables. They also have tables set up for them to choose certain items, including drinks, toiletries, diapers, formula, pet supplies, bread, and desserts. The food pantry offers free clothing every Thursday evening at their soup kitchen and has a thrift shop selling clothing and household items at very low prices. They have resource fliers on display and place them inside food bags. They do not give financial assistance but refer clients to Catholic Charities or St. Vincent de Paul. They also provide grocery store gift cards on an as-needed basis. The St. Gerard Outreach Ministry has drives for Back to School, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Summer. Clients can sign up via a form, and Outreach provides them with the essentials and gift cards from each drive. This past year, they provided more than 300 children Christmas gifts, school supplies to more than 200 children, and Easter baskets to 150 children.
Jennifer expressed deep gratitude to the Daughters of Wisdom for the grant and the remarkably smooth grant application process. “I can’t thank everybody at the Daughters of Wisdom enough because the grant application was just a wonderful, smooth process, and whenever I had a question, I was able to reach out, and everyone was able to help me. It was so fulfilling,” she said.
Sr. Laura Algiere, DW, a long-time parishioner of St. Gerard Majella Church, endorsed this grant and wrote in her recommendation letter, “The St. Gerard Majella Parish Outreach Ministry request has my enthusiastic endorsement. Since 2004, I have personally witnessed their program in action and have observed clients who feel accepted, respected, and care for as part of the parish family – some to the point of offering volunteer service to others as they are able.” She continued, “...This ministry resonates with our Wisdom charism, and I like to view it as an amplification of the services and volunteer spirit shown by local Daughters of Wisdom since the parish’s earliest days...”
Pastor Gregory Rannazzisi, with volunteers, collected food for the St. Gerard Majella Outreach Thanksgiving Food Drive, which feeds needy families in the community.