We are Thankful ~ Part 3

SSND sisters and associates are thankful for the blessings in their lives. How do they “pay that forward”? Many participate in service projects through their parishes, ministries, local communities or on their own.

This is our third installment of stories! More will be posted in the next week.

At age 87, Sister Mary Catherine Dundon from the Notre Dame of Elm Grove campus in Elm Grove, Wis., shares that she is most grateful to be able to volunteer three days a week at the Milwaukee Achiever Layton Center as a tutor for three Hispanic adults in English language learning.

Sister Carol Lesch, who also lives at Notre Dame of Elm Grove, serves at a parish food pantry and is happy to prepare “sloppy joes” several times a year for a St. Vincent de Paul meal program. While helping at the food pantry, she has accompanied a Vincent de Paul worker to the living places of people requesting furniture or appliances. Sister Carol said, “I was impressed with the clients who were polite and who didn’t ask for more than they needed because, as they said, other people needed help, too.”

At the Sancta Maria in Ripa campus in St. Louis, Sister Avila Markiewicz, several other sisters, and an infirmary nurse and her daughter sew lap blankets and scarves for the patients at Alternative Hospice in Fenton, Mo. The lap blankets and scarves are sized to comfortably fit a person in a wheelchair or recliner. If the blanket is for a veteran, patriotic prints are used and the blanket is presented to the patient by a veteran volunteer during a special ceremony. The scarves are extra wide with an additional piece to cover the neck. Deep pockets are sewn at the ends so patients can keep their hands warm. “We also use leftover pieces of material and buttons to create flower baskets. The flowers brighten the patients’ day,” Sister Avila shared. “Some of the patients in the hospice program don’t have much. They are so appreciative of the blankets and scarves we make for them.”

Bozena Cloutier of McKinney, Texas, has been an SSND associate for more than 20 years. Her personal history has been marked by a lot of loss: home, country, family members murdered in WWII and, more recently, her husband to cancer. Yet she said, “It is precisely in the area of grief and loss that I minister and find a deep inner joy.” Through her parish, Bozena and a co-facilitator hold grief support groups for people who have lost a loved one to death. “At the first meeting, participants often can barely tell the name of the person who has died,” she shared. “By program's end, they are sharing freely, often laughing, and have new hope in their hearts.”

How do you help others? How do you pay it forward?

>>Link to We are Thankful ~ Part 1
>>Link to We are Thankful ~ Part 2
>>Link to We are Thankful ~ Part 4

Photo credit: Linda Behrens