Lena's Soir�e Story
My
name is Lena Foster and I volunteer at Mary's Shelter. I would like
to tell you about one of our residents. He is a six year old boy who
lives at Mary's Shelter with his mom and baby sister. This little boy
has had a pretty rough life.
But, like most six year old boys, he
loves superheroes. One of his favorite things to do is to dress from
head to toe as a superhero. We like to call him our transformer
because he carries one of his costumes in his backpack everywhere he
goes. He has been known to step into a vehicle as a boy and then upon
arrival at his destination, step out as a superhero. He even went to
the hospital to meet his baby sister dressed as a transformer. He has
had his picture taken dressed as a transformer.
While
I was driving him from daycare to pick up his mom up from her CNA training
class, he was sitting in his booster seat going to great lengths to
transform into spiderman. He happened to notice a box on the seat next to
him. The box had a picture of a man on the front and it contained
twenty cds from a banquet planning guide. He picked up the box and
asked, "Who is this man and why is he on this box?" I said, "He is the
man you hear talking on the radio right now." He said, "Wow! He's on
the radio? Is he on tv too?" I said, "Yes, he has been on tv." He
became more excited trying to figure out who this man might be. He
asked, "Does he fly around the world helping people? Is he a hero?"
I said, "Yes, he does fly around the country." He asked, "How does
he help people?" To that I said, "You listen to him talk for a few
minutes and then you tell me how he helps people." So he listened for
a few minutes and this is what he said, "He IS a HERO! He helps
people with their missions!!" I was speechless and at the point of
tears.
These
simple words of a child are very true. David Bereit is our hometown
hero who has helped Mary's Shelter with her mission of supporting women
in crisis pregnancies. He has helped many pro-life, nonprofit groups
across the country with their missions. He very generously donated
his Banquet Success Planning Guide to us to use for our first large
fundraising event, and we were honored to have him as our Master of
Ceremonies.
Thank you David!
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Please visit Fiberfads! for beautiful hand-knit and felted items. All proceeds are donated to Mary's Shelter!
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For unique, hand-crafted rosaries, please visit:Beads for Mary 40-50% of your purchase will benefit Mary's Shelter
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Want more information about Mary's Shelter? Please visit our website:
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Mary's Shelter August Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 7
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Greetings, and Many Thanks!
Thank you to everyone who came to our first Summer Soir�e and Fundraiser. We are overwhelmed by your generosity. In one night, we raised over $60,000! That is amazing. We can hardly believe how fortunate we are to be a part of such a supportive and caring community. Not only are you helping us to keep our doors open to pregnant women in crisis, but you are helping us to make our plans for the future a reality. Thank you, thank you, thank you! The residents at Mary's Shelter feel truly blessed that so many people care about their future and the future of their children. God bless you!
Kathleen Wilson, Director
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa
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Highlights from the Soir�e
Setting the stage.
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One of our teen volunteers preparing the tables. | |
The VIP reception. | |
The Brazilian Jazz Band. | |
Fr. Bjorn Lundberg from St. Mary's offers the opening prayer. | |
Our Master of Ceremonies, David Bereit, the National Director of 40 Days for Life | |
Our Director of Homes at Mary's Shelter, Kathleen Wilson. | |
Our Guest Speaker, the Attorney General of Virginia, Mr. Ken Cuccinelli. | |
Fr. Augustine Tran, from St. Matthew's, offered the closing prayer. | |
Things got a little crazy during the after-party! | |
All photographs courtesy of Michael O'Connor Photography. To see more pictures from our Summer Soir�e, please visit the Summer Soir�e Photo Gallery on our website! |
Upcoming EventsMary's Shelter Arts and Crafts BenefitSaturday, October 2310:00AM-2:00PM St. Matthew Church Social Hall 100% of proceeds donated to Mary's ShelterContact: Adele Anderson |
Resident Profiles
The following are profiles of some of our current residents. All names are fictitious.
BERNADETTE: Bernadette just lost her job, a devastating set-back for a woman who is really trying to dig herself out of a big hole. She would like to go to school, but she has outstanding tickets and court fees and court-ordered classes that until dealt with, stand in her way of being accepted to school. She had been working faithfully and steadily, but after transportation and daycare costs, was only bringing home about $20 a day. Now she has no job and no prospects. But Bernadette is plucky, and a hard-worker. We know she will pick herself up, but we feel terrible for her that she has so many obstacles in her way, many of them self-imposed, but difficult obstacles nonetheless. Please pray for her.
PAULINA: Although Paulina continues to be a source of stress for the staff at Mary's Shelter, she has signed up for classes at Germanna, and is one of our first mothers to be able to take online classes from within the Shelter. She is taking a semester-long CNA course, and we hope that if she can stay on-track and pass her classes, she will be, for the first time, on the road towards success. Please keep her in your prayers!
ISABEL: Isabel gave birth to her son, Landyn, on July 27th! He is big and healthy and beautiful, and Isabel is completely devoted to him. Although she has two teenage daughters, they were taken from her custody early on. At age 34, Isabel has been given another chance at life. She passed her GED, and is enrolled at Germanna Community College full-time. She is committed to nursing her son, not exactly the norm for our mothers at Mary's Shelter. In fact, her determination to nurse has had the side benefit of drastically reducing her cigarette habit. Unfortunately, many of our mothers are smokers, but none has ever been motivated to quit by nursing! We are very proud of Isabel's progress and hope you will keep her in your prayers.
CATHERINE: Catherine is working at three different jobs and attending college full-time. We are amazed that she finds time to tuck her kids into bed at night! Although we are proud of her efforts, the truth is that Catherine has perhaps taken on too much too soon. Because of her learning disabilities, school is a real struggle, and because of her seizure disorder, her driver's license is suspended. She spends so much money getting to and from work that, at the end of the day, she sees very little of her paycheck. We fear she may burn-out from her crazy schedule, and that her grades will suffer. Please pray that Catherine would make wise choices for herself and her three children.
ANGELA: Angela, one of our most recent residents, is 19 years old and 5 months pregnant. She grew up in an abusive home, and came to Mary's Shelter seeking refuge from a psychologically abusive boyfriend who is heavily involved with the Occult. Angela understands that she must cut off all communication with him if she wants to stay at Mary's Shelter. She is mentally fragile, so we hope she will remain committed to regular counseling sessions and find the strength to move forward with her life.
In addition to the moms you have read about, Mary's Shelter
provides homes to other mothers and children.
Please keep them ALL in your prayers.
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An Interview with Anne Carroll
Anne Carroll is a stay-at-home mother to 6 children ranging in age from 18 to 4. She and her husband Joe are parishioners at St. Mary Catholic Church.
Q: Please tell us how you first heard about Mary's Shelter.
I first learned about Mary's Shelter through the St. Mary's Church bulletin. Q: How did you get involved with the planning committee for the Soir�e?
Eve mentioned to me at a St. Mary Mom's Group meeting that she was helping plan the fundraising dinner. I have been feeling God call me to volunteer at Mary's Shelter so I knew immediately that this was how I was supposed to help as I have experience in this area.
Q: What were some of your resposibilities? I was primarily responsible for helping plan the set-up of the venue, food, and decorations. I also helped with some of the writing.
Q: Are you pleased with how things turned out? I was pleasantly surprised by the success of the Soir� e. Since it was the first time we planned such an event, and there were only a few of us working on it, I did not think it would have been as successful as it was. We definitely had some Divine help.
Q: What would you do differently next time, if anything?
I'm sure there are little things we may change next year but overall everything came together nicely. Mr. Cuccinelli gave an amazing speech and I think all the guests enjoyed the fellowship, music and food.
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Our Knitting Class Needs Donations!
Please consider a donation of knitting needles or yarn for our semi-monthly knitting classes. If you are interested in making a donation of supplies, or would like to know what is specifically needed, please contact Ginny Foreman at [email protected]
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Thank You!The amazing success of our First Summer Soir�e could not have happened without the gracious support of the following
Underwriters: Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Brown/AKA Printing Mr. and Mrs. Mark Ivory Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Faleskie
Dr. and Mrs. Quentin Macmanus Mr. and Mrs. Julian Malcolm Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Mueller Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Storm Bishop Ireton High School St. Mary's Council of Catholic Women Anonymous Donors and Table Sponsors:Mr. and Mrs. Craig Close Mrs. Cassia Garcia Mr. and Mrs. Eric Harkins Mr. and Mrs. Mark Rousseau Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Rubin Mr. and Mrs. Gerry Thielman Mr. and Mrs. Andy Whittaker Lisa Julia Photography Lori Elizabeth Photography
Knights of Columbus Council
#4034 St. Matthew Catholic Church
Anonymous Donors
We wish to extend many heartfelt thanks to our Vendors and Contributors:
AKA Printing
St. Michael the Archangel High School
Holy Cross Academy
Carrabba's Italian Grill
Salsa Rita's
Bridge's Brick Oven Pizza
Total Wine
Chick-Fil-A at Celebrate Virginia
Fredericksburg Rentals
Michael O'Connor
Lori Elizabeth Photography
To our Audio/Video Specialists:
Dwain Currier
Michael Hichborn
Susan Cruse
Holly O'Brien
Paulius Sinkora
Mary Wise
Geoff O'Brien
David Tenenholtz
Brian Cruse
Thanks to our ImpressiveTeam of Teen Volunteers,
As well as our Banquet Planning Team:
Mrs. Ann Brown
Mrs. Kristin Bullock
Mrs. Anne Carroll
Mrs. Lena Foster
Miss Amanda Lord
Mrs. Eve Muggeridge
Mrs. Kathleen Wilson
Thank you to David Bereit, our Master of Ceremonies,
for the donation of his Banquet Success Planning Program, as well as his time
and expertise. And of course, a special thank you to our guest
speaker, Mr. Ken Cuccinelli!
Thank you to everyone who helped to make this night so special. We are blessed to have you as our supporters and friends.
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A Final Thank You
We are very grateful to the wonderful volunteers, prayer warriors, and donors who are crucial to the survival of Mary's Shelter. Through your ongoing
support, we pray that this ministry will continue to foster a culture
of life in our community for many years to come.
We hope you will continuing praying for the success of our 2010 "Fulfill the Promise" Campaign. With your help, we have really come a long way this year, but we still have many obstacles ahead of us. Please help us by spreading the word!
For more information about our ongoing "Fulfill the Promise" Campaign, please visit our website at www.marysshelterva.org. Thank you and may God Bless you!
Sincerely, The Directors and Staff of Mary's Shelter
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