FCSLA In the Community: Join Hands Day
Cleveland District's Join Hands Day Projects
The Cleveland District of First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association held three
Join Hands Day events this year.
Our first event was held April 25th at the
Catholic Worker Community a home in urban Cleveland. The ten volunteers provided
a breakfast to the homeless and indigent who come to Catholic Worker Community
home for assistance. Our members solicited friends and business associates
for both monetary and in kind donations prior to the event. They received over
$200 in monetary donations and the paper products for the breakfast. The Cleveland
District matched the monetary donations thus enabling the group to present
to Catholic Worker Community a $200 plus check for the community's future
use. While the ten volunteers were busy serving breakfast another group of
volunteers were at Light of Hearts Villa making and baking Join hands Day cookies
for the next two JHD events. The residents of Light of Hearts joined in the
cookie baking and were glad to help out for the Join Hands Day events.
Our second
event was held May 2nd at Light of Hearts Villa, Bedford, Ohio. The American
Red Cross conducted a blood drive while our volunteers welcomed and thanked
the blood donors, made and baked more JHD cookies, and collected clothing for
Joseph's Home, a home for men in transition in urban Cleveland.
We had 32 blood donors which exceeded the goal the Red Cross set for the event.
The clothing drive brought in more than three van loads of men's clothing.
Both the Red Cross and Joseph's Home were in awe at the volunteerism
and compassion our volunteers demonstrated.
Our third event was held May 16th
at Light of Hearts Villa, Bedford, Ohio. 60 plus volunteers - consisting of
for FCSLA junior and senior members, friends, and the residents, family members,
and staff at Light of Hearts joined in the Spring Cleaning of the grounds.
Raking up winter's debris, planting new
flowers, playing bingo, conversing with the residents, decorating JHD cookies,
bringing food donations for Seton Safety Net, imprinting a flag with our hand
prints and signatures, conducting a prayer service and concluding the day's
event with "Thank You" pizza lunch was the agenda for the day.
The flag was flown below the American flag at Light of Hearts and will be preserved
for future Join Hands Day events.
The events were a tremendous success due to
the collaborative efforts of the staff at Light of Hearts Villa and the members
of First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association. All participants are looking forward
to next year's project(s).
Learn more about FCSLA in the community.
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