In March, a dedicated group of women hosted the 6th Annual Lovely Ladies event at Thorny Lea Golf Club in Brockton. In the words of many attendees, “It was the best Lovely Ladies night yet!” The highlight of the evening was guest speaker Tiziana Dearing, former President of Catholic Charities, Boston. Dearing is currently Chief Executive Officer of Boston Rising, …
Men For Others
This past academic year, I was proud to be part of the My Brother’s Keeper Special Interest House, a program offered through Stonehill’s Office of Residence Life which allows students to live and work together around a common purpose. Our group consisted of eight seniors with unique personalities. Our majors ranged from accounting and finance to communications and international studies. …
Shining Our Light Brighter in: Fall River
Over the past five years, My Brother’s Keeper has significantly increased the numberof families served in Christ’s name. In 2011, we made a record 7,300 deliveries to29,000 children and parents—a 57% increase in total deliveries, including 125%growth in our Furniture Assistance Program since 2007. Today, we are continuing to broaden our outreach—this time geographically. MyBrother’s Keeper has always provided Christmas …
Mission Accomplished!
The Claddagh Fund—the charity established in 2009 by Dropkick Murphys founder Ken Casey— joined forces with My Brother’s Keeper to strengthen the ministry and raise money for furniture and food deliveries to local families in need. My Brother’s Keeper launched a Facebook page on December 6th and the Claddagh Fund issued a very special challenge grant to add excitement: they …
A Season on the Brink
The second floor apartment was exceptionally neat and nicely decorated for Christmas. It was certainly a little small for a family of six but a nice home nevertheless. It was here that I received the strongest hug of my life. This was a Christmas season full of families on the brink. On countless deliveries we heard stories of someone losing …
A Sobering Call
“Hello. . . My Brother’s Keeper. How can I help you?” I answered the phone. “Is this the My Brother’s Keeper Christmas line?” In those eight words, I could hear both stress and a tremendous feeling of relief on the other end of the line. “It is,” I answered. “What would your kids like for Christmas?” “My four kids all …
“Without Even Knowing Us, You Helped Us”
No snow… 2,500 hard-working volunteers… thousands of generous supporters… and most importantly, a deep commitment to serve struggling families in Christ’s name. Put all of these things together and you have the makings of our most successful Christmas program ever: 2,662 deliveries completed in 67 communities—10,500 children and adults served!—all in just 21 days. Each family received personally selected Christmas …
WEEI Donates Air Time
In December, WEEI 103.7 FM donated thousands of dollars worth of free air time encouraging their listeners to help families in need by supporting the My Brother’s Keeper Christmas program. Thanks, WEEI, for being a part of our work in your own special way!
Living Day by Day
Many of the families we serve are living day by day: struggling to keep food on the table, a roof over their heads and oil in the tank. How can these parents even think about joyously celebrating Thanksgiving and the birth of Jesus with their kids? A plea for help from Kathy in Dorchester reminds us how desperate many of …
Repaying Our Kindness
Despite her quiet, soft-spoken nature, Isabelle opened up to our delivery crew: she’d been physically abused by her husband for many years before she left him. With nowhere to go, she found herself homeless, at one point even reduced to returning to her abuser. Isabelle finally escaped her husband and got her own apartment but she had no furniture. When …