* The annual New Year's Day Charity Ceili in the Mineola Irish Center will start at 4.00pm and end at 8.00pm. Food will be provided, and the music will be by Pete Kelly and his band. The cost is $25 per person. The proceeds will be divided between HOPe and a Bronx-based charity, POTS. To help the organizers plan for the evening, please call in advance - 718-468-3622.
 
* President Joe McCarthy, Maura Kelly and Michael Pryce represented HOPe at the launch in New York of SELF HELP AFRICA, an organization started some years ago in Ireland to empower small farmers in Africa to become more productive. The former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, who was recently honored by President Obama for her outstanding international leadership in promoting human rights, was the main speaker at the event. Joe had a good chat with Mrs. Robinson about our HOPe projects in Africa and elsewhere.
 
* Sister Joanne Bierl has transferred from Honduras, where she has worked for the last six years, to Dublin to be part of the leadership team of the Medical Missionaries of Mary. Joanne has been associated with HOPe from the beginning as a valued adviser. She did a memorable job chairing our first AGM, which was held in the Kerry Hall nine years ago. Many of our members visited with Joanne and the other Sisters in their mission in Choloma, near San Pedro Sula in Honduras. HOPe has helped to fund some of their charitable projects, especially the clinic, Casa Visitacion, which provides comprehensive medical services in a very poor community. We wish Joanne, who is an exceptionally gifted and dynamic woman, every success in her new leadership assignment.
 
* The reports from the Thrift Shop are all positive. Elba Lopez and Eileen Kennedy both report good sales and great cooperation in staffing the shop from HOPe members and supporters. They welcome all donations of clothes or other goods that can be sold. Please make sure that all donations are clean and in good condition. The HOPe Thrift Shop is open every Saturday and Sunday from 10.00am to 6.00pm. It will not open on December 26 and December 27.
 

* Joe McCarthy and Gerry O'Shea met recently with Sr. Joan, the principal of St. Barnabas High School. The agenda included discussion about a possible development project for HOPe in Haiti, where the Sisters of her Order have a strong and longstanding presence. They also talked about the possibility of some St. Barnabas students helping out in our Thrift Shop. This was our second meeting with Sr. Joan, who is very committed to what she calls the social gospel of serving the poor, which is, of course, what HOPe is all about.
  
* We are pleased to announce that Connie Yang, a talented hairdresser and a HOPe member for many years, is offering a hairdressing service for men and women every Saturday in a room in the HOPe Thrift Shop at 301 McLean Avenue in Yonkers. She is, very generously, donating all the receipts to HOPe. She charges $25 for Lady's Haircut with Shampoo and Blow Dry; $20 for Lady's Haircut; and just $12 for a Man's Haircut. If you wish to make an appointment, you may call Connie at 914 659 9741.
 
* Thanks to Ursula Frawley in Dublin, who is the founder and president of Sporting Chance, a company that sells personalized cards for children involved in various games and school activities, for including an invitation to support HOPe in her Christmas emailing. She names HOPe as her favorite charity because of her personal knowledge of the excellent projects that we sponsor, and she includes instructions on how to make a donation.
 
* Up to this point, HOPe members who traveled abroad to visit and assess our various projects paid their own travel and living expenses. Our members feel strongly that donors should know that we take very seriously our pledge that over 90% of all money collected goes directly to fund these charitable projects in the Third World. While we will maintain this important commitment, the Board of Directors of HOPe have decided to expand our petty cash account and invite donors to contribute to that account to help defray future travel and related expenses of members who visit our projects overseas. Anyone wishing to help out in this regard should contact HOPe president, Joe McCarthy at 914 433 8413.
          

                                                     

  

* Congratulations and Best Wishes to Mr & Mrs James Supple who married recently in Turks & Caicos!  James is a longtime member and strong supporter of HOPe. His late father, James Supple Sr., was the first financial contributor to HOPe.  He was presented with a special commemorative plaque at our first AGM.   

 

 

 

*  Thanks to Loretta King, the Fairfield County Gaelic American Club now includes information in its newsletter about all HOPe events. And, again, we are grateful to Loretta, owner of LiKing Marketing, for volunteering to design and produce this newsletter.