Outreach Ministries

We welcome all parishioners and community members to join on of our outreach ministries. We offer many opportunities to serve our community at St. Maria Goretti and the greater Madison area.

Outreach Updates

While our usual ministries have changed during these times (see below) we are using the Outreach Funds to help our neighbors in need. Thank you to all who continue to donate to the Outreach Fund during this pandemic.

St. Vincent de Paul - Recycle the Warmth Blanket Drive

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul will conduct the Madison-area annual Recycle the Warmth Blanket Drive the weekend of January 29-31. The annual drive allows St. Vincent de Paul to collect blankets, sheets, and other bedding that is then given to Dane County residents in need throughout the year.

St. Vincent de Paul encourages online donations this year. Your donation of $13.99 will purchase a new, good quality blanket.

If you prefer to donate new or gently used blankets or bedding, you may do so at a special contactless drive-through donation event to be held at the Middlecamp Center for Vincentian Charity, 2033 Fish Hatchery Road, on Saturday, January 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bedding may also be donated at any of the seven Dane County Thrift Store contactless drive-through donation sites during regular business hours. Please label your donation with "RTW" (Recycle the Warmth).

Thanks in advance for helping our neighbors in need through this year’s Recycle the Warmth Blanket Drive. Visit svdpmadison.org/donate/donate-blankets for more information.

Update on Donations to the Outreach Fund

With all the changes that have come about because of Covid-19 personal involvement in the various Outreach Ministries at St. Maria Goretti has, for the most part, been curtailed. But thanks to the generosity of the our parishioners we have been able to help the following partner ministries with generous donations.

• St. Vincent de Paul
• The Catholic Multicultural Center
• Luke House Meal program
• Pregnancy Helpline
• Housing assistance through Joining Forces for Families
• Free medical care through Our Lady of Hope Clinic
• Pro-Life Rally at the Alliant Energy Center

While there are now vaccines for Covid available, it will still be at least six months before things get back to what they were before the pandemic. That means there is still a much greater need to help our neighbors with food, shelter and medical assistance. If you are able, your donations to the Outreach Fund will continue to be used to help these community partners as they care for the needs of our community. If you would like you donation to go to a specific purpose or community partner please email Deacon Dick at dick.martin@stmariagoretti.org.

Housing Assistance - Matching Grant

Stable housing is one of the most important factors in helping children do well in school and grow to be productive members of our community. Because of the pandemic, many families have not been able to pay their rent. Evictions are currently on hold, but will expire on December 31. Many families with children will find themselves homeless in the middle of winter and the shelters are already over crowded. St. Maria Goretti, in partnership with Good Shepherd Lutheran, Orchard Ridge UCC and Joining Forces for Families, has been working with neighborhood school social workers to keep families with children in their homes. Your generous donations to the Outreach Fund has made this effort possible. We now have a unique opportunity to help our neighbors in need. A generous parishioner at Good Shepherd has donated $10,000 to set up matching fund for this housing assistance. To make sure this generous donation is put to use Good Shepherd is inviting the parishioners of St. Maria Goretti to contribute to this fund. You can do so by emailing Deacon Dick at dick.martin@stmariagoretti.org or calling the parish office to arrange for the donation. Remember, during this matching fund drive your donation is doubled to help children remain in their homes and succeed in school and in life. To learn more about this housing assistance program, watch this short video.

Snack Packs

Even though we cannot get together to assemble snack packs for the Meadowood neighborhood, there is still hunger in our neighborhood. We need several volunteers to make 25 sandwiches each and drop them off at SMG. We have enough volunteer for October, but if you would like to help in the future, please email Deacon Dick at dick.martin@stmariagoretti.org. The sandwiches will be put into the snack bags along with an applesauce cup and a granola bar. The bags will be donated to Coach Assad of the Mellowridge Foundation who will distribute them to hungry children. Hunger is still a issue for the neighborhood, especially because of the pandemic. While the Madison School District is providing breakfasts and lunches for children, they are delivering an entire week's worth of food on Monday. Because of a lack of refrigerator space, some of the food spoils. In other instances, because of hunger in the family, the food is gone by Wednesday. Our snack packs will help alleviate some of this hunger. Donations to the Outreach Fund will be used to purchase perishable items for the packs like cheese sticks and Gogurt. Thank you for helping our neighbors in need.

- Deacon Dick

Support Outreach Ministries

For cash/check donations, please use the monthly blue Outreach Envelope. We appreciate your generous support for all the various outreach ministries. Thank you!

• Give Online (Outreach Fund)