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Project Archive - 2005
Description: When
Shannon celebrated her 14th birthday, she received a card from
a very special Franciscan friend. In the card were 14 dollar bills.
Shannon knew that each dollar symbolized a year that she was gifted with
life, something so uncertain in those early days after her birth. The
words on each of those dollar bills were the same: "In God We Trust."
And Shannon knew that if it weren't for her family's trust in God, she
might not be here today. Shannon held onto those dollars for months,
knowing she wanted to do something very special with them. Then on
Christmas, Shannon received a gift from her aunt – an autographed copy of
Clay Aiken's new book. When Shannon read that Clay was from Raleigh, NC
she had an idea about how to use those special 14 dollars to help others.
Description: We can never forget that this ministry began with one pair of socks ... one pair that quickly turned into one thousand pair. And we can never forget that while distributing those socks, we were approached by a homeless man who asked us for underwear. Underwear is basic and essential, but we all wear it and we all need it. Most of us have a drawer full of it. Most homeless men and women have only one pair. Some are lucky enough to have two. Our "Blessed Bloomers" packs each contain 2 pair of underwear, an undershirt and a pair of socks. They are packaged discreetly and lovingly for our homeless friends. Results: With
your help, we collected 814 pair of underwear, 594 undershirts, and 1,347
pair of socks. They were packaged discreetly as “Blessed Bloomers” and
distributed to the homeless on September 11, 2005. Thanks to the New York
Yankees, the men and women who visited the St. Francis Breadline that day
also received Yankees caps. Samuel was the last to receive his “Blessed
Bloomers” that day. The remaining “Blessed Bloomers” packages were sent
to the Graymoor Friars, Garrison, NY and distributed to Hurricane Katrina
victims who arrived in Lancaster, PA (through the United Council of
Churches).
Description: Shannon’s friends have become curious about the work she does with the homeless. Often, she is asked questions and struggles to find the answers. “Aren’t you afraid of them? What if they’re sick? How can you touch them?” Shannon has tried to explain to her friends that the homeless are “just like us.” Recently, Shannon received an award for her work. At the award presentation, keynote speaker Gen. Colin Powell said, “You make a living from what you get, but you make a life from what you give.” It was at that moment that Shannon knew she had to do more for her homeless friends and she had to try harder to help her friends at home understand. Results: On
September 17, 2005, Shannon invited 100 teenagers to “live like a
homeless person” for one night. In her church parking lot, students
arrived at 5:30 p.m. with nothing more than what they were wearing or what
they could carry by themselves. No one was permitted to bring a cell
phone, a laptop, a CD player, a blow-dryer, etc. Everyone was given a
cardboard box and 2 bottles of water. Shannon arranged for entertainment
and speakers into the late hours of the night, and door prizes were
awarded. Each participant obtained sponsors, and all money raised was to
benefit the homeless. In the morning, all students were treated to a
pancake and sausage breakfast as they recalled their homeless brothers and
sisters all over the world who were waking up hungry. Over $5,000 was
raised during this project. To read more about this project
click here. January through March 2005 - Shannon's Anniversary project.
Description: Shannon celebrated the 14th anniversary of her life-saving liver transplant on January 29th, 2005. She invited some friends for a sleepover and asked them all to bring backpacks for the homeless in lieu of gifts for her.
In this project Shannon marked the anniversary of her life-saving liver transplant by collecting backpacks for the homeless. In the past, we have always had a few backpacks to give away on our trips into NYC, and they have always been well received by our homeless friends. Because Shannon is a huge Clay Aiken fan (and has been to see him twice in concert!), she chose the words from Clay's song I WILL CARRY YOU for the project title. The words to the song speak so perfectly the thoughts we would like to convey to our homeless friends:
"Yeah, I know it hurts, Yeah I know you're
scared walking down the road that leads to who knows where. Don't you
hang your head, don't you give up yet when courage starts to disappear, I
will be right here.
Results:
Through this project we were able to collect enough backpacks for all our
friends on the breadline at St. Francis church in NYC. To see pictures and
read about the day we delivered the backpacks, click
here.
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Home | Projects | About Fr. Mychal | About Mychal's Message | Donate Contact us: info@mychalsmessage.org Mychal's
Message logo and all graphic design graciously donated by
M. Scott Oatman
Graphic Design and Illustration.
Website development and maintenance donated by
UtterClarity. This page was last updated on: January 19, 2008. Mychal's Message, Inc. is registered as a charitable organization with the Department of State's Bureau of Charitable Organizations under the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act, 10 P.S. Section 16.2 et seq., and is authorized to solicit charitable contributions under the conditions and limitations set forth under the Act. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State, Bureau of Charitable Organizations
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