Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, C.S.J., recently gained national notoriety when she was named the winner of the 2014 Opus Prize for faith-based humanitarian work.
We’ve known for years about the good work of Sister Tesa and Hour Children. We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to extend Bright Christmas assistance to them over that time.
Hour Children, founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, L.I., cares for children of mothers incarcerated in Bedford Hills Correctional, Taconic Correctional and Rikers Island. It also offers a home for the moms when they return to society.
Each year, the Sisters and staff make Christmas a lot brighter by hosting a huge Christmas party for more than 300 children and their families. This year’s soiree will be on Saturday, Dec. 20, at St. Rita’s parish, Long Island City.
“In the past years, we have been humbled by the generosity of benefactors who support The Tablet’s Bright Christmas appeal and we pray that God rewards them for their goodness, their compassion and their generosity,” says Sister Tesa.
We can only help people like Sister Tesa and the kids of Hour Children by your continued donations to The Tablet’s Bright Christmas drive.
The donations are streaming in and we are doing our best to turn the money around and get it to those in need by Christmas.
Wouldn’t you know it, one of the first donations to arrive came from a nun! Sister Laurette Mary, who is 93 years old and currently living in Philadelphia, can’t forget the happy times she spent in the Diocese of Brooklyn and so she sent $15 in cash. “I don’t have a checking account and I can’t get a money order,” she explains.
We’ll take it any way we can. We’re not picky when it comes to helping others.
It’s people like Sister Laurette and readers like you who care enough about the needy here in Brooklyn and Queens who make Bright Christmas such a success year after year. Last year, we raised $138,648.80 and we’re hoping for at least that much this year.
We send the money to priests, sisters and laypeople who run diocesan agencies and who have firsthand contact with the poor. We simply give them the money and ask them to brighten Christmas for the children and families in their charge. Some buy gifts. Others give the money to parents so they can buy gifts. Some throw parties. Others make sure that a Christmas meal is on the table of needy parishioners.
If your group is in need of a grant, send an email to me (ewilkinson@desalesmedia.org), explaining how you will use the funds and we will consider your request. Or you can write to me c/o The Tablet, 1712 Tenth Ave., Brooklyn, NY, 11215.
Use the same address when sending your contribution. Make the check out to The Tablet’s Bright Christmas.