It Was a Bright Christmas
Dear Editor: Thank you to your readers for the generous donation of $5,000 from the Bright Christmas campaign to Providence House. Donors like you are a steadying force for hundreds of vulnerable individuals and families here annually.
Our programs reach out to people whose lives are upended by housing crises, mental illness, justice involvement, and other factors.
With your support, you help them kindle a new vision of what they can achieve and help them discover new skills to reach their goals.
This happens across our nine residences and three programs — Family Transitional Shelters, The Women’s Justice Program, and Permanent Supportive Housing.
Most of those we serve live under tremendous anxiety and pressures, year in and year out. We are privileged to join with you to provide them with life-giving hope and concrete plans for building stability and realizing their potential.
Danielle Minelli Pagnotta, LMSW
Executive Director, Providence House
A Mass for Tablet Readers
Dear Editor: How blessed are the families of Ss. Joachim and Anne, who were chosen to receive the outstanding and delightful gifts that were supplied by the Bright Christmas program. Our 25 families were overwhelmed by the wonderful surprise.
Praying for you and your special intentions. Please know a Mass was said for The Tablet readers and the Bright Christmas Fund on January 22 at Ss. Joachim and Anne Church.
Mrs. Linda Freebes, Principal
Queens Village
Thanks From Catholic Charities
Dear Editor: I am writing today in gratitude for the Bright Christmas Fund’s donation of $10,000 to support Christmas events for clients at the Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens GAMA and RAPP Programs. Your commitment will be a blessing to our work, and we are so grateful for your support.
During these challenging times, festive events are a way for our clients to remember the true meaning of Christmas and an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family, a chance they may not have had without our efforts.
These events will be held for members of our Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) and Grandmothers as Mothers Again (GAMA) program for those who take on parental roles late in life.
Their lives have changed drastically for both young and old, and these events allow them to connect and be around others in similar situations.
Along with creating community, these programs connect each member to the programs and services of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, allowing us to help these families with whatever needs may arise.
Msgr. Alfred LoPinto
President and CEO, CCBQ
Hour Children Thank You
Dear Editor: On behalf of all of us at Hour Children, we are writing to express our deep gratitude for your very generous gift of $5,000. The gift came at the perfect time and was used to help ensure that the children and mothers in our communal residences, and our neighbors in the wider Queens community, had access to basic necessities.
It also brought joy in abundance on Christmas morning as children raced to the tree with their mothers, tore open boxes, and discovered new clothes, toys, and books.
A beautiful, memorable day for so many because of your generosity.
We thank you for honoring, for the love you have shown to our mothers and children.
Madeline Holmes, Interim Executive Director, and Jeffrey Smith, Development Associate, Hour Children
Long Island City
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Dear Editor: In her Up Front & Personal column (“Reflecting on My Mission to Fight For Life,” Jan. 22), Kathleen M. Gallagher discussed her coming retirement after 38 years at the New York State Catholic Conference where she interconnected with a plethora of interfaith causes, such as racism, served on the Board of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, and leading the Cardinal Cooke Pro-Life Commission.
She sums up these intersections as efforts to embody a consistent ethic of Life and a Common Ground Bridge-Builder to “inspire everyone to know the truth that we are all connected, and disrespect for one human life over here only endangers other human lives over there.”
Because of her consistent life ethic, she has been vilified by both the “left” and the “right.”
It is consoling to read that she will continue to serve the NY State Catholic Conference as a part-time consultant.
Jim Kelly
Bay Ridge