By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -
Denise Delmore reacts after receiving a a $500 Heart of Christmas gift card from Sister Franklyn Ofoma, of the Daughters of Mary.
St. Mary Magdalen parishioner Mercedes Rodriguez reacts to receiving a $500 Heart of Christmas gift card from her pastor, Father Bernard Kirlin. Rodriguez, 73, is part of a family of two adults and three children trying to make ends meet on one part time job.
Thank you letter from Denise Delmore to Archbishop Thomas Wenski, after receiving a $500 Heart of Christmas gift card.
First page of thank you letter from Valencia Murphy to Archbishop Thomas Wenski, after receiving a $500 Heart of Christmas gift card.
Second page of thank you letter from Valencia Murphy to Archbishop Thomas Wenski, after receiving a $500 Heart of Christmas gift card.
Selmarit Agront-Cumba and her children pose with their pastor, Father Liam Quinn, after opening the $500 gift card provided through the Heart of Christmas program. Agront-Cumba is a single mother of four children (including twin girls) who supports her family by working at Walmart. She goes to Mass every week at All Saints in Sunrise and two of the children are altar servers.
Wildine Aumoithe, a student at Immaculate Conception School in Hialeah and the recipient of a $ 500 Heart of Christmas gift card, is seen here with her principal, Victoria Leon, and assistant principal Michelle Roof. Wildine needs help getting a new wheelchair to get to school and back. Her family struggles to pay for all of the medical care plus the normal costs of living.
Selma Suarez, a single mother of twins who is battling cancer, poses with her $ 500 gift card. She was referred to Heart of Christmas by Centro Mater child care services, which operate under the auspices of Catholic Health Services. She has no other family than her mother who is 71 years old.
Delia Toledo poses with one of her five children and her $ 500 gift card. She was referred to the Heart of Christmas program by Centro Mater child care services, which operates under the auspices of Catholic Health Services. Medical problems have kept her from working and her husband's income is not enough to support the family.
Delgracia Thompkins, an employee of Catholic Health Services, poses with St. Anne's Nursing Center administrator Rosemarie Bailey after receiving her $500 gift card. Delgracia takes the bus to work and sometimes does not have enough money for lunch. She is worried about providing for her children.
Photography: COURTESY PHOTOS
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Sister Franklyn Ofoma, of the Daughters of Mary, presents a $ 500 Heart of Christmas gift card to Denise Delmore, a Jamaican immigrant and mother of three children - a 13-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl, and a 3-year-old boy - who became homeless when her son’s father passed away and she could not pay the rent on her own. Last March, the Homeless Trust referred her to the New Life Family Shelter, operated by Catholic Charities. New Life referred her to attorneys who helped her obtain proof that she is a legal resident, and to Better Ways, which is helping her pay rent in a new apartment. She is still looking for permanent work. She enjoys cooking and cleaning as well as spending time with her children.
MIAMI | The season of giving began early this year in the Archdiocese of Miami � and in a way, so did the Year of Mercy.
- A $2,500 donation from the Anthony Abraham Foundation yielded 100 gift cards, worth $25 each, for families who needed help at Thanksgiving.
- In early December, a combination of funds from Archbishop Thomas Wenski and local Catholics resulted in 20 gift cards � also worth $25 each � that were used to buy gifts for children in the Unaccompanied Minors Program. That’s a Catholic Charities program that cares for immigrant children, up to the age of 23, who arrive in the U.S. without a parent or a guardian.
- And just before Christmas, the archdiocese distributed $40,000 worth of gift cards to 113 local families, as part of its fourth annual Heart of Christmas project. The money comes from Archbishop Wenski’s personal charity fund.
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
St. Mary Magdalen parishioner Mercedes Rodriguez reacts to receiving a 0 Heart of Christmas gift card from her pastor, Father Bernard Kirlin. Rodriguez, 73, is part of a family of two adults and three children trying to make ends meet on one part time job.
The 113 recipients were nominated by their pastors at more than a dozen churches, as well as agencies such as Catholic Charities, Catholic Health Services, Respect Life, the HOPE Outreach Center, and the Instituto Pedro Arrupe at the Centro de Espiritualidad Ignaciana (Ignatian Spirituality Center).
What sets these families apart � aside from their often desperate, heartbreaking needs � is that they nevertheless find a way to give back to their communities.
Juxtaposed with brief blurbs recounting their struggles � cancer and disabilities, in children and adults; lonely elderly, living without immediate family on very low incomes; single mothers, single fathers, and orphans; families without a place to call home; immigrants with newborns trying to build their lives anew � are ways in which they serve others and the Church: at Mass on Sundays, as acolytes, lectors and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion; in youth groups and Cub Scouts; by visiting patients in nursing homes; even by taking on the roles of foster parents for children and young adult refugees.
The Heart of Christmas project gave each applicant a gift card that certainly won’t alleviate all their burdens, but will help to bring some seasonal cheer: $500 for 80 families, and $50 for 33 more. The gift cards are sent to the parishes or agencies that nominated the recipients, and the pastors or staff give them to each family.
In December 2012, the first year of the program, $20,000 worth of gift cards were given out to 40 families. The amount rose to $27,500 for 55 families in 2013; and to $37,500 for 100 families in 2014.
“Everything we’re doing is about the Year of Mercy,” said Katie Blanco, chief development officer and president of the archdiocese’s Development Corporation, which organizes the Heart of Christmas project each year. “These are people in need who came to the Church for help, and the Church helped.”
