Social Ministry

Neighbor-to-Neighbor

Neighbor-to-Neighbor is a parish charity/outreach program. It is funded by donations from parishioners through the fourth Sunday envelope or on-line giving through the parish website.  Neighbor-to-Neighbor supports local organizations such as Project for Pride in Living, Ascension Place, Home Free Shelter, The Bridge for Runaway Youth, Hope Community, St. Joseph’s Home for Children, and Wayside House and provides emergency assistance for individuals and families in need.  Neighbor-to-Neighbor sponsors regular and emergency projects in the parish throughout the year, including food collections for the local food shelf (see PRISM), collection of Christmas gifts for local organizations (see Christmas Share-A-Gift), and provides funds for the meal St. Mary’s volunteers serve at Sharing & Caring Hands each month (see Sharing & Caring Hands).

Volunteers are instrumental in carrying out the charity/outreach work of Neighbor-to-Neighbor by:

·         Donating funds to Neighbor-to-Neighbor

·         Donating, sorting and delivering food to PRISM

·         Helping with the Christmas Share-A-Gift project and donating gifts

·         Helping prepare and serve a meal at Sharing & Caring Hands each month

PRISM (People Responding in Social Ministry)

PRISM is a diversified social service agency serving the cities of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, Plymouth and Robbinsdale. PRISM’s mission is to provide social services and connections that empower people in our community to build healthy, stable lives. PRISM's vision is to lead in providing innovative and dignified services that foster resilient individuals and a healthier, more sustainable community.  PRISM's values are Dignity, Accountability, Collaboration, and Innovation.  As a church member of PRISM, St. Mary’s provides one representative who serves on PRISM’s church board. St. Mary’s provides funds, food, Christmas gifts, groceries for their foodshelf and volunteers for PRISM. 

Christmas Share-A-Gift

Since 1987 St. Mary’s has been collecting Christmas gifts for local organizations.  The organizations are contacted by the first of November to determine their needs and gift ideas.  Tag boards are created by St. Mary’s volunteers in mid-November identifying the gifts needed.  The tag boards are displayed at church entrances for three to four weeks starting in mid-November.  People take a colored tag, purchase the gift on the tag and return the gift unwrapped in early December.  Gifts are sorted by color/organization and delivered to the various organizations, usually on the second Monday in December.

The following organizations have been receiving Christmas gifts:  PRISM, Home Free Shelter, Missions Nursing Home, Ascension Place, 363 Days and Sharing & Caring Hands.

Volunteers are needed at every step in the gift collection and distribution process:

·         Chairperson to contact the organizations, make preparations for making tag boards, supervise sorting of the gifts and arrange for delivery of the gifts

·         Help make tag boards one evening in mid-November

·         Purchase a gift

·         Help sort gifts

·         Deliver gifts to an organization

Sharing & Caring Hands Volunteers

Sharing and Caring Hands is a day shelter providing a bridge between existing services for those in need. Once a month a meal is prepared in our parish kitchen by parish volunteers.  The next morning the food is gathered and transported to Sharing and Caring Hands to be cooked and served for the noon meal.  St. Mary of the Lake also provides over 100 cooked turkeys for the Thanksgiving noon meal on an annual basis. For more information about Sharing and Caring Hands please go to www.sharingandcaringhands.org. 

Families Moving Forward (FMF)

Click on Families Moving Forward link for information and resources regarding this committee.

Funeral Luncheons

St. Mary’s has a fine tradition of ministering to bereaved registered parish families by providing a service for a catered luncheon on the day of a funeral. Many parishioners volunteer as funeral coordinators and kitchen helpers. Funeral workers do not have meetings. Click here to sign up to volunteer to be a kitchen helper.

A Community Caring for Life 

A Community Caring for Life (ACCL) supports the Archdiocesan effort to address the needs of women and families facing a crisis pregnancy. The committee hosts a “baby shower” in October, Respect Life month, in which parishioners can donate new baby items that are divided up and given to three organizations in our community that support women in crisis pregnancies.  We also care for children in need by supporting the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery lunch program, “Cook for Kids”, on a monthly basis. 

Welcoming and Hospitality

Fellowship and a sense of community is encouraged by the Welcoming Committee’s involvement in the greeter ministry, production of an occasional pictorial directory, weekend coffee after liturgy.