Maryknoll Affiliates

I joined the Portland Chapter of Maryknoll Affiliates around 1994. I have participated in a two-month mission to Thailand teaching English to Buddhist monks and other refugees from Myanmar. I arranged my own Maryknoll mission awareness in Tanzania when I was there for two months in 2005 when I participated in a sister-parish program and volunteered for one month as an English teacher in Standard Five. I have also participated in two mission awareness programs with Christian Foundation for Children and Aging in Guatemala and the Yucatan, Mexico and visited the child I sponsor in the Dominican Republic. In 2005 and 2006 I supported the Patches of Hope Quilt Project and was able to sell these beautiful quilts and inform people about this project at the St. Therese Bazaar and the ACCW Convention.

I am a volunteer for our parish chapter of St. Vincent DePaul. In the past I have been secretary for the group and I have delivered food to those in need in our parish boundaries. Currently I volunteer to stock the pantry shelves with food from the Oregon Food Bank. In the past I collected personal care items for Rose Haven, a woman’s day shelter and for the Downtown Chapel.  I have turned that task over to another parish member. After volunteering at the Downtown Chapel, I saw the need for good used clothing, especially for the winter months. With the help of my Small Faith Community at St. Therese, I collect these clothing items from parishioners and deliver them to organizations that serve the homeless in the Portland area. This Christmas I organized a collection of toys and personal care items for orphans in Tanzania. I support the efforts of JOIN’s Housing to Home Program. In the past our Portland Affiliate collected all the household items that a family would need to move into an apartment and raised $2000 to get a couple an apartment and support them for six months.

From January to May 2004, I used Maryknoll materials with my parish school, St. Therese. For K-4, I used the Children of the Earth videos and other materials to give two ½-hour presentations to each grade. For grades 5-8, I used the Maryknoll magazine and lesson plans and sometimes the videos and other materials. In addition I prepared a slide presentation on my short-term mission (two months) to Thailand and my mission education experience in Guatemala. For 7-8, I followed up on our lessons related to Africa with a slide presentation of my experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger, West Africa. We expanded this mission education program this next school year. Currently the classroom teachers use the Maryknoll materials.