20 Groups Receive Loretto Ministry Fund Grants

Earlier this year, the Loretto Executive Committee designated $50,000 to be allocated to projects or programs in which Loretto Community members are involved. Community members were invited to submit proposals. In all, 23 Community members requested funding for 20 groups or projects. We funded all the projects, and checks were mailed in June.

We were amazed and grateful for the many applications we received. It is encouraging, especially in these challenging times, to know that Loretto is working for justice and acting for peace in so many different ways around the country and around the world. Thank you for all you do, and keep up the good work!

The following projects or programs received funding from the Loretto Ministry Fund:

The Bridge Community in Denver to help with house renovations, request submitted by Mary Catherine Widger;

The Denver Catholic Worker to help in its efforts to raise money to purchase a house, request submitted by Anna Koop and Libby Comeaux;

El Paso Villa Maria to pay for legal documents and co-pays for medical care for residents, request submitted by Mary Margaret Murphy;

Friend for Life Cancer Support in Louisville to support operations and provide funding for training and materials for new volunteers, request submitted by Barbara Nicholas;

Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom in Kansas City, Mo., to help fund the Fannie Lou Hamer Women’s Group of the fast food workers movement, request submitted by Alice Kitchen;

Hildegard House in Louisville to provide groceries and prescription medications for residents who are at the end of life and have no homes or family to provide for them, request submitted by Karen Cassidy;

Holy Family Sisters of Guatemala to support their desire for several sisters to come to the United States to learn English and how to teach English, request submitted by Mary Louise Murphy;

Iraqi and Syrian Student Project to provide airline tickets for students who have been accepted to study at Canadian colleges/universities, request submitted by Theresa Kubasak;

I.V.E.H. Latino Family Services to support services in Spanish to Hispanic women and families in Delaware, request submitted by Mary Bundy;

Jemez Helping Hands to provide utility bill assistance to people on the Jemez and Zia pueblos, request submitted by Karen Knoll;

Loretto at the United Nations to fund the work of organizing participation in the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women, request submitted by Beth Blissman;

Loretto Child Care Center in Loretto, Ky., to raise the wages of their dedicated employees, request submitted by Kay Carlew;

Loretto Heights College Cemetery project to help with landscaping, appropriate historical markers and stone replacement, request submitted by Mary Nelle Gage and Ruth Routten;

Marian Middle School in St. Louis to provide graphing calculators and help purchase textbooks for students entering high school, request submitted by Barbara Roche;

Needham Free Public Library in Needham, Mass., to fund the purchase of multicultural and bi-lingual books to serve the growing immigrant and refugee population, request submitted by Mary Lou Pierron;

People Helping People an all-volunteer community organization in Arizona working to stop Border Patrol abuse and the militarization of the border and to provide supplies and help to migrants, request submitted by Mary Jean Friel;

Plowshares Farm Center for Education and Spirituality in Buffalo, Ky., to support retreats, farm immersions and education programs, request submitted by Bob Ernst;

Religious Lands Roundtable Farmer Gathering to bring workshop presenters to a second gathering of farmers in the Motherhouse area who are interested in long-term planning options for their farms, request submitted by Susan Classen and Kathy Wright;

and SERR (Servicios Ecumenicos para Reconciliacion y Reconstruccion), an organization working in Central America and at the United Nations to promote education and action for reconciliation and reconstruction in areas affected by war and conflict, request submitted by Rosa Lizarde.