Please consider joining with your family and our parish family to help with one or more of the following Advent Giving Projects.

The remaining Giving Tree projects for 2023 include:

 MATERIAL GOODS being collected THIS WEEKEND ONLY, December 2-3. The following items may be dropped off in the vestibule before all Holy Masses this weekend only:

* Non-perishable Food for St. Dominic’s Outreach Center. Food donations to this neighborhood assistance program that serves 75+ families in Detroit are down this year. Any food donations will be appreciated; but the most needed items include: hearty soups, instant oatmeal packets, sugared cereals, pasta and sauces. Please, no glass jars.

* Toiletries and household cleaning products for seniors and families at Most Holy Redeemer and St. Gabriel in southwest Detroit. Our donations will help provide the 250 households being assisted at these parishes with necessary items they often cannot afford. 

* Rice, dried beans and pasta donations will further help families at Most Holy Redeemer and St. Gabriel stretch their overstretched budgets.

* Paper towels, Kleenex, Clorox cleaning wipes and individual applesauce cups for Mary’s Children. This Catholic ministry, located in Clawson, provides a loving and nurturing day program for severely brain injured adults. The program provides activities based on each participant’s capabilities, lunch, prayer time, and personal care in a 1:2 caregiver to participant ratio. Our donations will help offset the costs of this intensive, much needed service for vulnerable individuals and their families.

GIVING TREE: Many tags were picked up from the Giving Tree to assist families in the parish and in our neighborhood. Please drop off your gift, with the tag attached, in the Parish Office by Friday, December 8 or  before any weekend Mass by Sunday, December 10.

The tags with gift requests for children and families in Macomb County Community and Mental Health programs, St. Dominic’s Outreach Center, from families the parish is assisting have all been taken. These are the gifts that are to be dropped off by Sunday, December 10.

The Giving Tree still has Gift Card requests for:

* St. Christine’s Christian Services, which operates a food bank and a soup kitchen in the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit, has requested Costco and Gordon Foods gift cards. These cards will primarily help them purchase foods to serve in the soup kitchen, but also will help to stock their food pantry shelves if needed. 

* Mary’s Children has asked for Meijer and Kroger gift cards, in either $25 or $50 amounts, to be used to purchase birthday or Christmas gifts for their students.

GIFT CARDS:  Gift Cards may be placed in a Sunday collection basket during the month of December or dropped off at the Parish Office before December 20.

St. Nicholas Helpers are Needed:  Helpers are needed to collect the Giving Tree gifts before all Holy Masses NEXT WEEKEND, December 9 & 10, as well as to deliver them on Tuesday, December 12.  To volunteer your time, contact Erin Rybicki at ChristianService@saintcyrils.church

MONETARY DONATIONS: During the month of December, donations to the parish Christian Service Fund will be distributed to:

* St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVdP) chapter at St. Jane de Chantal Parish – During the past year our      parish office called upon the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Jane’s to assist a parishioner and a local family that were experiencing great need. SVdP promptly stepped in and provided for both of these situations. As a next step in partnering with SVdP in the Family of the Good Shepherd, this donation will help them fund services such as assistance with rent or utilities, household or  emergency  needs  to individuals in our local community.

* Image of God Crisis Pregnancy Centers – Women experiencing a crisis pregnancy find friendly and much needed assistance at Image of God’s three centers. The centers help women set goals and provide for their own and their baby’s needs from pregnancy through the baby’s first 2 years. Our donation will help Image of God’s operational costs so they can continue their lifesaving and life affirming  mission in 2024.

Donations to the Christian Service Fund can be made online via PushPay; or place cash or a check made out to Ss. Cyril & Methodius in a white Advent Giving envelope and put it in the Sunday collection basket by December 25.

SLOVAK SEMINARY SCHOLARSHIP FUND DONATIONS: The seminary in Bratislava, which we have assisted with individualized sponsorships for many years, is currently undergoing major renovations. The students are now at the seminary in Nitra, making a combined total of 70 seminarians in formation. This larger number of students makes it unreasonable for our parish to sponsor them individually for a $300 donation as we have in the past. Instead, parishioners who wish to support the future priests in Slovakia may make a donation in any amount to a seminary scholarship fund. Our monetary gift will help support seminarians with financial needs, at the rector’s discretion. To contribute to the scholarship, place your donation in a blue Advent Giving envelope and place it in the Sunday collection basket by December 25. Note: per the IRS, this international donation is not tax deductible. A group photo of the seminarians and a prayer card for seminarians are available in the Parish Office.

Thank you for your consideration, generosity and prayers! If you have questions about any of the projects, contact: Erin Rybicki at ChristianService@saintcyrils.church or Sandi Brady in the Parish Office