COVID-19 has had a huge impact on our local blood supply as many blood drives have been canceled during the pandemic. We will host a Versiti Blood Drive tomorrow, Tuesday, January 12, from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm in the Stanley Centre. Sign up online at https://bit.ly/SCSBloodDriveJan12. Contact Deb Dozeman at ddozeman@stcatherinesiena.org with any questions.

The Catholic Charities Food Distribution program continues.  St. Catherine's parishioners have responded and are volunteering their time to pack the food into boxes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Portage location (7105 S Westnedge, next to Sam's club).   Each week (usually on Friday), the volunteer needs for the following week are posted online: https://ccdok.org/view-volunteer-opportunities-here/.  In addition to volunteers for food packing, drivers are needed to deliver the boxes of food on Wednesdays at 11:00 am, and Fridays at 8:00 am. Please click on the article title for more information about this volunteer opportunity!

We are looking for anyone who is interested in knitting prayer shawls, baby afghans, mittens, neck scarves, and knit caps. We have been asked to assist in helping the homeless stay warm as the cold weather approaches. If you can knit and have time to knit for the needy, we have yarn for you to use. We have also been asked to assist young mothers by providing baby blankets. Again, we can provide the yarn! If you are already a member of our prayer shawl weavers group, we could certainly use more prayer shawls. We will be supplying them for the sick, those in nursing homes, and those in need of comfort. Thank you in advance for considering this ministry. Please reach out to Marianne at mverner@stcatherinesiena.org with any questions.

Our 2020 Christmas Giving Tree project began on November 1st! This year, our Giving Tree lists are digital; please visit the Giving Tree page of our website (https://www.stcatherinesiena.org/giving-trees) for a complete list of participating agencies and their needs. We also have a list of needed supplies in the vestibule of the church. In addition to the items on the lists, we are also collecting knit hats, gloves, and scarves for distribution to our local homeless population (please see the image on the right for some of the beautiful handmade items we've received so far!). Please LABEL the bag or item with the organization you wish to donate to and return your donations to the Narthex of the Church (after weekend Masses) or the boxes in the Church vestibule (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) between Sunday, November 22nd and Sunday, December 6th. *Please do NOT wrap the items.* Thank you in advance for your generous donations. If you have questions or would like to volunteer to help with sorting or delivery of the Giving Tree items, please contact Colette: gushursts@yahoo.com.

We are looking for anyone who is interested in knitting prayer shawls, baby afghans, mittens, neck scarves, and knit caps. We have been asked to assist in helping the homeless stay warm as the cold weather approaches. If you can knit and have time to knit for the needy, we have yarn for you to use. We have also been asked to assist young mothers by providing baby blankets. Again, we can provide the yarn! If you are already a member of our prayer shawl weavers group, we could certainly use more prayer shawls. We will be supplying them for the sick, those in nursing homes, and those in need of comfort. Thank you in advance for considering this ministry. Please reach out to Marianne at mverner@stcatherinsienna.org with any questions.