Human Concerns is focused on all the social outreach efforts of the parish. There are various monetary collections as well as necessary goods for special needs such as school supplies, Christmas gifts, food and the preparation of meals for the poor. This is the area of the parish life where Pro-Life, the promotion of human life from conception until natural death, is promoted; particularly through Our Mother of Perpetual Help and support for neighboring agencies serving the needs of care providers.
Current Projects where your help makes a big difference, to get involved contact one of the volunteers below or call (312) 642-2498.
Second Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.
Barbara Pope and Lisa Rosskamm
The goal of the Lenten Food Drive, an annual parish project sponsored by the Human Concerns & Needs Commission, is to stock the shelves of the Catholic Charities Food Pantry with food. The pandemic has caused even more people to ask for assistance as they struggle to feed their families, so we really need your support this year. The last two years’ drives were lower because of low pandemic Mass attendance, but maybe we can make that up and reach the 1,500 food items received in 2019! Although you are invited to donate any and all types of non-perishable packaged food items for the Pantry, specific foods will be targeted for each week of Lent, using the following timeline and suggestions for your grocery shopping:
1st Sunday – pasta and sauce, mac ‘n’ cheese
2nd Sunday – canned meat, fish, and soup
3rd Sunday – cereal, oatmeal, and canned vegetables
4th Sunday – canned fruit, granola bars, and dried fruits
5th Sunday – rice, beans, and peanut butter
Palm Sunday – infant formula and baby food
Participating is easy.
Once you’ve shopped the store sales, just bring those donations with you to Mass, placing the items in the labeled basket at the back of the church;
Deliver to the Parish office at 1633 N. Cleveland before 3 PM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, noon on Thursdays.
As we’ve done since the pandemic started, we’ve also set up an Amazon Wishlist with items relating to each week.
Don’t feel like shopping? We can do that for you. Monetary donations are also being collected.
a. Simply place your donation in an envelope, mark it Lenten Food Drive and drop it in the Offertory Collection basket
b. Text PANTRY to (312) 313-9692 to make an online donation
c. Proceed to our online giving page: Give Central
Thank you for your continuous generosity.
The pandemic is over! Once again we will have gift tags in the back of the church and a December 10 gift-wrapping party. We can help you participate in buying gifts for 350 children.
GIFT DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 3
Take a gift tag from the back of the Church and deliver a new, UNWRAPPED gift with an approximate value of $35 to weekend Mass or St. Michael Parish Office. You can still purchase and deliver a gift if you don't take a tag.
Choose from one of our registries via the link below.
If shopping isn't your thing, you can make a monetary donation for the purchase of gifts via the following:
If you want to participate in the gift-wrapping party, emailKelly at [email protected] . Sign up for December 9 from 9:30 AM to 2 PM in the Parish Centergift-wrapping party.
Please note: if you support this effort through a direct donation from Amazon, we cannot include this in your annual tax letter. We do not receive information from Amazon with donors information. Please save your receipts for all purchases through Amazon or any other retail
-Toiletries for Catholic Charities and Human Trafficking agencies.
-Non-perishable food for Catholic Charities
-Boxtops for Education
-Campbell's labels for Manierre School
-School Supplies
-Turkey and Food Drive - October and November
-Gift Drive - Mid-November to early December
-Lenten Food Drive
-School Supply Drive - July and August