Each Christmas St. Joseph Parish adopts some 125 families in rural Missouri as well as some of our local neighbors in need. Specific gifts are requested for members of these families and the gifts are purchased, wrapped, and brought to the parish on a designated Saturday or Sunday before Christmas. These packages are then delivered to the Rural Parish Workers of Christ the King for distribution to the needy families. To volunteer or obtain more information on this project contact Diane Lacey (314) 348-1311, Christi Cleaveland (636) 795-1889, or Wendy McGowan (maa_wendy@yahoo.com).

2021 Christmas Outreach - the Giving Trees will be up in the back of the church by Thanksgiving.  Choose an envelope from those trees and buy the items listed for the person on the envelope.  Alternatively, back by popular demand is our Online Giving Tree.  You can choose from this tree and we will mail you the envelope with the labels and instructions.  UPDATE MONDAY 12/13/21:  THE LINK TO THE ONLINE TREE HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN, AS TIME IS SHORT.  CASH DONATIONS CAN BE OFFERED THROUGH WESHARE.  YOUR GENEROSITY IS APPRECIATED!

Gift Collection weekend is December 18/19.  All gifts should be brought to the parish center, wrapped and labeled, no later than 11 AM on Sunday December 19.  Please note that it is preferred that you drop off your gifts on Saturday December 18. 

If you would like to participate but cannot shop, you can donate through WeShare and volunteers will shop and wrap for those not chosen from the giving trees. Click here to donate through WeShare.

If you can volunteer to help on the big gift collection weekend, please sign up here.  If you cannot help physically, please pray for the effort - for great weather, that everyone brings their gifts on time, and for safe travels to Fertile, Missouri.  It is always a joy-filled time unloading the truck at the Rural Parish Workers of Christ the King.  You can sign up for that too!

Giving Sunday On the second Sunday of each month, before all the Masses, items are collected in the church courtyard for the St. Augustine Wellston Center thrift shop and food pantry. St. Joseph parishioners who wish to participate in the program may pick up a schedule of particular items to be collected from the Parish Office.

Giving Sunday Drivers Individuals or families volunteer to deliver the Giving Sunday items collected at St. Joseph Parish to the St. Augustine Wellston Center, 1705 Kienlen Ave. The items are loaded during the 11am Mass on Giving Sunday. This service takes about two hours to complete. To volunteer or obtain more information call Pat at 636/227-8704. To view a list of the needs for 2022, click HERE

The Kairos retreat is coming up in November and we need COOKIES! Each team member is asked to provide 40 DOZEN cookies. Due to the unique requirements of the prison environment, cookies MUST be made according to a few simple guidelines (for example: no fruit, no nuts, no icing, no sprinkles.) Cookies should be about 3” in size, packed in quart-sized Ziplock bags, one dozen per bag. Chocolate chip, sugar, peanut butter, chocolate or oatmeal cookies are great – other varieties are welcome, too!  More information can be found by clicking on "Flyer".

Flyer

God Breaks Through Walls
Our Sunday Visitor Article about Kairos Ministry

Nursing Home Visitors Each week, members of the parish conduct a Communion service for and pray the rosary with the residents of West County Care Center, Brookdale Senior Living, Big Bend Woods Healthcare Center and Dougherty Ferry Assisted Living. Some volunteers come to the home to assist with the Communion service; others prepare baked treats for the residents. Call Bob Vondera 636/527-8206 for further information.

Parishoners come together to knit or crochet Prayer Shawls for those who are ill or suffering. The shawls are blessed by one of the parish priests and freely given to those in need. Recipients wrap themselves in the shawls as a reminder love from their brothers and sisters. Prayer Shawls may be picked up at the parish office. We also provide handmade hats/scarves for the homeless and baby blankets, hats, and booties for local shelters.

Dates and times of meetings are announced in the bulletin. For those who wish to participate but do not know how to knit/crochet (or have forgotten how), you are welcome to come and learn from our volunteers. For more information, please call Jessica Penn at 636-236-3188.

Room at the Inn Room at the Inn is a 24-hour emergency shelter for families dealing with homelessness run by the Sisters of Divine Providence. The 20 people served daily at the day site in Bridgeton go out every night to two hosting Church congregations. Our night is the fourth Saturday of each month. We provide a welcoming environment where clients and hosts share meals, fellowship, and a safe place to sleep. Currently since Covid, our guests are sheltering at the day site in Bridgeton. For more information contact Bill Oesterle at 314-581-2260 or billoesterle@remax.net. Check out more details about this organization at their website.  https://roomstl.org/

Volunteers prepare single servings of soup or stew or set aside individual portions from their family meal for an "unseen dinner guest." Each meal is frozen, labeled, and dated. Frozen meals should be placed in the freezer compartments of the refrigerators located in the Athletic Field garage and can be dropped off at any time. Each Friday a volunteer delivers meals to St. Patrick Center.

Sandwiches or bags of fruit can be dropped off each Thursday throughout the year in the refrigerators located in the Athletic Field garage.
Those who wish to contribute are divided alphabetically. Parishioners with last names beginning A through L bring food on the first 2 Thursdays of a month and last names M through Z bring food on the last 2 Thursdays of a month. If a month has a 5th Thursday, all contributors are requested to participate with donations. (This division of parishioners is only a suggestion and parishioners can contribute on any Thursday.)

Sandwiches are prepared as follows:

• Sandwich bread is emptied from the bread bag.
• Sandwiches are prepared with NO CONDIMENTS. Lunch meat/cheese (other than bologna) is preferred.
• Prepared sandwiches are placed in sandwich bags and returned to the bread bag.
• The bread bag is closed and marked with the ingredients and the date.

Fruit donations: Fruit goes into the same refrigerators as the sandwiches. It can be kept in the bag as packaged by the grocery store, but any bag is acceptable.

Each Friday, parish volunteers deliver the food to 2 charities:  St. Vincent de Paul Church in the Soulard area and St. Patrick Center in the downtown-west area. For more information on this year-round service, contact Bob Diekemper, 636/391-7614.