Outreach Ministries

Our parish hosts American Red Cross blood drives quarterly on Saturdays in the West Room. The next parish blood drives:

Saturday, October 30, 2021
7:45 AM – 1:15 PM

Saturday, January 22, 2022
7:45 AM – 1:15 PM

Saturday, April 30, 2022
7:45 AM – 1:15 PM

Please consider giving the gift of life during our semi-annual blood drives with the American Red Cross! You can click here to schedule your live-saving donation online or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.

To save you time, we strongly recommend using RapidPass. It offers a way to complete your pre-reading and donation questions online ahead of time — reducing your waiting time at the blood drive by as much as 15 minutes.

Volunteers: If you are unable to donate blood for any reason, would you consider donating your time and volunteer at the blood drive for a few hours? Thank you to everyone who has donated blood or volunteered at our past parish blood drives!

• One donation can save or sustain up to 3 lives!

• Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.

• Most of us will need blood in our lifetime.

• The number one reason donors say they give blood is because they "want to help others".

The Red Cross has tips on what do to before, during, and after your blood donation.

Jeff Ment
410-833-8515
jment@shgparish.org

Links:
American Red Cross
Find a local blood drive

• A Prayer Shawl is a shawl that is lovingly crocheted or hand-knit from a soft, comforting yarn.

• As the shawl is created, it is prayed over by its maker for the intentions of its recipient.

• It is also blessed by the parish priest.

In 1998, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, two graduates of the 1997 Women's Leadership Institute at The Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut gave birth to this ministry as a result of their experience in the program of applied Feminist Spirituality under the direct of Professor Miriam Therese Winter, MMS.

In 2008, a similar Prayer Shawl Ministry began at Sacred Heart Parish. A group of women meet together at the parish to knit or crochet in their own homes. Shawls are collected twice per year and blessed by the parish priest at the parish community's Mass of the Anointing of the Sick. Shawls are then distributed to anyone who is seriously ill or knows of one who is seriously ill. Blessed Prayer Shawls may be requested at any time through the Parish Office.

Blessed shawls have been distributed to various organizations such as the Hospice Center at Gilchrist, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Saint Joseph's Retirement Villa in Flourtown, PA, and the Veterans of War at Walter Reed Hospital and the Medical Center in Bethseda. Individual shawls have also been given to more than one hundred seriously ill persons in and around our parish and local community.

• First and third Tuesday of the month from October through May

• Third Tuesday of the month from June through September

• 1:00 – 2:00 PM in Room 105

Mass for the Anointing of the Sick, Blessing of the Shawls, and Prayer Shawl Giveaway

• On a weekend of November

• On a weekend of March

Peggy Dryden
410-833-1696 ext. 315
pdryden@shgparish.org

Contact us if you want to learn to crochet or knit!

Our sister parish, St. Ann's Church, is located at 528 E. 22nd Street in Baltimore. The fascinating history of St. Ann's, from their parish website:
 

St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church on Greenmount and 22nd Street was erected through the generosity of Captain William Kennedy, commander of one of the most famous Baltimore clipper ships, The Wanderer. Caught in a raging storm off the coast of Vera Cruz in 1833, Captain Kennedy vowed that if he and his crew returned safely to port, he would build a church as a testament of his gratitude to God. The anchor held. Upon returning to Baltimore, Captain Kennedy gave up his life at sea and gave up his brig. He did, however, keep his anchor and chain. True to his promise, in 1872 Captain Kennedy and his wife, Mary Ann Jenkins, secured property and funds for the church which was to be named for Saint Ann, the patron saint of sailors. The cornerstone was laid in 1873 — the same year that Captain Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy died. Although neither of them lived to see the church completed, they are both buried under the main aisle of St. Ann's Church.

The history continues:

The church was completed in 1874, and later expanded seating capacity and a school (now closed) and convent were added. In 1925 the original anchor was restored and placed in a stone cradle beside the cornerstone where it remains today. The historic, cultural, and architectural significance of this church is well documented in the church archives, and St. Ann's continues to be a neighborhood landmark. St. Ann's is a good neighbor to the poor and disenfranchised and continues to reaffirm its mission to the East Baltimore community.

Sacred Heart's outreach to St. Ann's includes two large food collections, gifts at Christmas, various projects as needed, and Poor Box collections on the first Sunday of each month. Sacred Heart School adopts families at St. Ann's at Christmas.

Center for Pregnancy Concerns was founded in 1980 for the purpose of providing women facing an unplanned pregnancy with a place to explore their options in a non-threatening, comfortable environment. We offer a variety of services, all of which are entirely free. Our mission is to protect the physical, emotional, and spiritual lives of women and their unborn children. Current director is Gina Ruppert, a Sacred Heart parishioner.

CPC at St. Ann's is open on Tuesday — Thursday from 9:00 AM — 4:00 PM. You can schedule an appointment at www.cpcforhelp.org or call 410-391-6699.

Our mission: to protect the physical, emotional, and spiritual lives of women and their unborn children

Services include: a helpline, pregnancy testing, material assistance, referrals, education, post-abortion counseling, sonograms, and abstinence programs

Current center needs are: diapers, wipes, baby lotion, shampoo, sleepers 0-9 mos, and clothing size 2t-3t

Rogelio d'Almeida
Pastoral Associate
410-235-8169
www.stannsofbaltimore.org

(To view more great photos, click here!)