2012 Authors’ Luncheon – Save the Date!
SAVE THE DATE
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Eligibility Criteria for Saint Martin’s House
Saint Martin’s House offers a transitional program to assist homeless women and their families in gaining education, self-knowledge and life skills. The program requires commitment and desire to change behaviors.
A family may reside at Saint Martin’s House for up to 24 months as long as the resident complies with program guidelines and achieves planned goals.
Women interested in learning more about Saint Martin’s House should call 410 634 2537. To be considered for the program, a woman needs to complete an initial inquiry with a staff member via telephone. During the phone conversation, an appointment date will be scheduled for a face to face interview to help determine eligibility for the program.
Eligibility criteria include the following:
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Christmas Preparations At Saint Martin’s House
Moms at Saint Martin’s House are busy getting ready for Christmas. Christmas elves are in several rooms, reminding children that Santa is watching, and staff members have even made a cell phone call or two to let Santa know when one of the children has been especially good.
As part of the on-going series of cooking challenges, three moms participated in the cookie exchange. Staff members got to taste test the peanut butter, chocolate chip with nuts, and snickerdoodle cookies presented at the exchange. Although Krystal felt her snickerdoodles were not a great success, her from scratch effort provided the opportunity to talk about cookie baking pitfalls. Everyone shared their favorite cookie memories and the three bakers clearly enjoyed tasting their cookies.
Gifts for moms and children have come from many different sources this year. Kent County friends of Cherrie and Bob Baker brought gifts for the children to a preChristmas brunch, Queen Anne’s County master gardeners added significantly to Santa’s conference room storage with gifts for moms and kids. The teachers from Caroline County who each month present the Read for Shore program bring stories, children’s activities and gifts.
Each family has a unique table top tree donated by various departments in the Caroline County Board of Education, including a most creative tree from the Finance Office decorated with origami ornaments made from dollars. These lovely ornaments will be unfolded as needed to help make sure that all have a Merry Christmas. 
Many thanks to all who are helping to make Christmas at Saint Martin’s House a joyous time.
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Community Connections Bring Plenty of Produce to Saint Martin’s Food Pantry
From May to December Saint Martin’s Ministries received a variety of fresh produce donations. Clients who come to Saint Martin’s for food benefitted from more than 3500 pounds of produce – tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, butternut squash, cabbage, and the final harvest of white and sweet potatoes. Each of the organizations or individuals that provided these fresh vegetables has some special connection to Saint Martin’s. We’d like to thank them for their generosity in sharing, and recognize those special connections.
Boxer’s Edge Farm connects to Saint Martin’s Ministries through Lori Sallet, our current Board Vice-President. The farm is one of Lori’s projects and one of the many ways in which she and her husband Jonathan support us.
Sand Hill Produce has been sending produce our way for at least the last 4 years. The connection is Cathy Smith who retired in September 2010 from her position as assistant director of Saint Martin’s House. Cathy sometimes brings the produce donation herself, so that she can check out what’s new in the Thrift shop.
Victory Farm Community Garden
Victory Farm Community Garden brought a wonderful variety of tomatoes this summer. Although some might say the connection to Saint Martin’s was Win Anderson, who just stepped down as Board Chair, folks who know the full story acknowledge Maggie, the Anderson’s Border Collie who frequently vacations at Victory Farm.
The Garden at Saint Martin’s Housewas also a source of fresh vegetables and herbs during the summer. A project of Queen Anne’s County Extension Master Gardeners, Bonnie Connor, wife of Board member Joe Connor worked diligently to bring about a garden for the women and children at Saint Martin’s House to tend and enjoy.
The Garden at Saint Martin's House
In addition to these generous providers we also receive produce from local folks who just have a bit of a surplus when the weather is right. A true community of sharing. Thanks to all the gardeners out there, we hope that you will soon be enjoying seed catalogues and planning for next year’s produce.
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Christmas Giving
I am sure those of you receiving our recent newsletter noticed the CHRISTMAS GIVING envelope which was included. Again, I know that you, too, are suffering from the present economy. Imagine how those below the poverty level are seeking by with our help. I do want you to know that your Christmas donations always help us through the second half of the fiscal year so that we don’t wind up “in the red.” Thank God, and thanks to you, we are able to feed, house, clothe, keep people in their homes, and keep people warm. Remember that no donation is too small. When people send a gift with the message that “I wish I could give more,” or “this is such a small donation,” I always say that “it is more than we had previously,” and that “NO GIFT IS TOO SMALL.”
If you are not on our mailing list and did not receive our newsletter, you may simply forward your gift to the following address:
Saint Martin’s Ministries
Attn: Christmas Giving
14259 Benedictine Lane
Ridgely, MD 21660
You may also contribute your gift online by visiting our online donation page and including “Christmas Giving” in the ‘Purpose’ area on the donation screen.
May you find it in your heart to reach into your pockets, piggy banks , under your mattress – wherever you keep your money – to help us help others. Your gift will warm the hearts of many. Something else I convey to our clients: “ Say a prayer of thanks for all those who make it possible for us to help you!”
Love and prayers,
Sister Patricia
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Saint Martin’s Ministries Board of Directors Welcomes New Members
Kevin Daney, Treasurer; Sister Patricia Gamgort, OSB, Executive Director; Lori Sallet, Vice-President; Margie Callahan Palazzolo, President; Dana Delle Donne, Secretary; Chris Maxwell, Chief Investment Officer
At Saint Martin’s Ministries annual Board meeting, on November 15, the officers pictured above were officially voted in and/or commissioned.
Margie, who was Vice-President this past year, succeeded Win Anderson as President. Win’s contributions were numerous, but a few she can be most proud of are seeing that an Executive Committee was formed, that more programs were put into place at Saint Martin’s House, that the Bylaws were revised and accepted, and that a pleasant relationship was formed between the women and children at Saint Martin’s House and the Board. Win will remain on the Board and has always been someone who gives 150%.
Three other persons were nominated and accepted to the Board: Suzanne Gregory, a substitute teacher/retired librarian in Caroline County Public Schools. Suzanne is also an active member of Saint Benedict/Saint Elizabeth parish and currently assists Sue McLernon in our finance office.
Bishop Lewis Richards is Vocational Coordinator and Pastor of “No More Walls Family Worship Center” and is proud to be a husband and father of five children. We are pleased to have someone who ministers in the Salisbury/Preston/Federalsburg areas.
Emma Shivers is Resource Coordinator of the Department of Disabilities Agency of Queen Anne’s County Department of Health. Emma was the first Director of Saint Martin’s House. We are happy to have her back in our Saint Martin’s family.
We welcome our newest members and are grateful for their accepting the nomination to the Board. I know you will find committed models among the present Directors, who are vested in Saint Martin’s Ministries.
I would also like to thank Joe Connor for accepting a second term and John Petruzzelli for accepting a third term.
At this time, too, I would like to express my gratitude to the many spirited people who serve on other committees: Executive, Finance, Development, Arts Event, and Authors’ Luncheon. You all do a marvelous job!
And last, but not least, I would like to thank my dedicated staff and volunteers. In the month of November, the barn staff and volunteers, did a Herculean job. We had people coming to the Barn in droves – 30 families a day on several days. We and you helped feed over 325 families!
I always know that the Ministries are in capable hands – hands that reach out in service – from the Board of Directors down to the faithful volunteers. You make my job much easier because I know all of you have a vested interest in Saint Martin’s mission.
May you all be blessed for the blessings you are to so many!
Sister Patricia
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Food programs in diocese serve the needy in season of plenty
By Joseph Ryan
Dialog Editor
Advent, a time of spiritual renewal in preparation for Christmas, always arrives at a time of plenty in the United States.
The Thanksgiving feast, the Black Friday sales and the monthlong consumer frenzy of shopping highlight abundance in society but hide the year-round needs of the poor.
Those needs this year are greater than ever, according to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Wilmington.
Benedictan Sister Patricia Gamgort who help start Saint Martin's Barn 29 years ago (right) hands client Maricela Lopez-Cancino her turkey at Saint Martin's Barn. (The Dialog/DonBlakePhotography.com)
“The stagnant economy continues to push low-income households to the brink,” Richelle Vible, Catholic Charities’ executive director, said last week. “Membership in our food cooperatives continues to climb, and requests for our emergency food distributions are at an all-time high.”
Catholic Charities is expanding its Stock the Pantry efforts at its three locations for the more than 1,700 families enrolled in its food cooperatives.
Food programs across the diocese reflect Catholic Charities’ report, citing the weak economy and high unemployment that increase the number of people seeking help from Saint Martin’s Barn in Ridgely, Md., to Christ Our King in Wilmington’s food closet, to the Joseph House Ministries in Salisbury, Md.
“Right now is honestly the busiest time of the year” for food distribution at Saint Martin’s Ministries, said Jean Austin, chief operations officer. Last year about 240 families received emergency food each month. This year Saint Martin’s is averaging about 280 families a month and recently distributed 294 food packages in a month’s time.
The need “seems to increase every October,” Austin said, “because we’re on the shore, there’s a lot of employment through the summer but when children go back to school families have additional expenses. So as part of our food pantry operations, we give out school supplies.”
“We are the feeding ministry for Caroline County,” said Sister Patricia Gamgort, executive director of Saint Martin’s. The food distributed comes from the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAB), administered by the state of Maryland from a federal grant, also from donors such as schools, parishes, food stores and some that’s purchased by Saint Martin’s.
“The new people that we are seeing are people who are unemployed,” Austin said. “A lady last week had never been here before. She said, ‘I don’t think I’ll have to come back here.’ I said, ‘You can come back once a month.’”
“At least, if you come here for your food,” Sister Patricia said, “you can use the other money to pay bills. We understand people need help for a short period of time, as long as they need that help, we’ll come through for them.”
Parish ministry
There are two baskets in the vestibule of Christ Our King Church in Wilmington that parishioners can stock with canned goods all year to help supply the Kevin Sullivan Food Closet run by the parish. Debbie Mosch started helping with the food ministry about six years ago and is now coordinator of the closet that is open on Thursdays from 10 a.m. until noon to provide food to those in need. Last week, the parish distributed food boxes for Thanksgiving meals on Tuesday.
“We’ve seen a significant increase over the past year,” Mosch said. “The maximum we can serve any Thursday is about 30 people. Before, if we got 15 people, it was a good day. Now, there are almost 30. A lot of the clients that we serve are elderly or disabled. A lot of the new clients we’ve seen come in are economic cases. They’ve lost a job; they can’t find work; they’re coming in for the first time.”
Clients of Christ Our King’s community-based food closet must live in the 19802 zip code, Mosch said. The parish received a grant from the state for $1,000 to buy its stock from the Food Bank of Delaware. In addition to provisions provided by parishioners, Mosch said St. Ann’s School in Wilmington conducts drives for the closet, as well as St. Joseph on the Brandywine Parish and the Knights of Columbus at St. Mary Magdalen Parish.
People can only come once a month; they’re logged in to keep track.
Typically, clients will receive cereal, canned potatoes or a bag of rice, cans of vegetables, tuna, pasta, pasta sauce, soup, and macaroni and cheese.
Mosch said when people visit the food closet for the first time, “We tell them we’re glad they came. We try to make it as pleasant as possible.”
Donations help
There’s both a soup kitchen and a food pantry serving people in need at Joseph House Ministries, run by the Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary in Salisbury, Md.
Dave Heininger, who’s worked there for 14 years, said the soup kitchen has been averaging 170 to 200 people a day lately.
“The numbers are up, I figure, 10 to 11 percent over the previous year,” he said. “We get a lot of single mothers coming in with children who are living on welfare, unemployed. Unemployment is bad down here on the Eastern Shore. We draw people not just from the local area but all along the Eastern Shore.”
On the food pantry side of Joseph House’s operations, “we probably average 25 new families every week,” Heininger said. “We do give out government food. It’s a big part of our operation; the rest comes from donations. The donations we do get, especially this time of year, help a lot.”
Area donors also help. In addition to St. Francis de Sales parishioners’ support, Salisbury University students recently donated 12,000 pounds of groceries and area volunteers also conducted a food drive before Thanksgiving that filled a truck.
“This is a time of year when people are very generous,” Heininger said. “We try to spread it out to make things last.”
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Thank You-Thank You-Thank You!
Ellie Poorman, Chair of the Arts Event, and Elisabeth Reiss, auctioneer
The 6th Annual Arts Dinner and auctions October 7th at the Chesapeake Room Lighten Up! Celebrate the Art of Living was a wonderful evening, thanks to the hard work of the Arts Committee, the many donations of Art and non-art for the silent auction and the lively, enthusiastic auctioneering of Elisabeth Reiss. Elisabeth gave a stellar performance, stepping up last minute to the auctioneer job and raising the Live Auction to new heights–her London stage presence and dedication to her new role were marvelously successful.
The event raised over $69,000 for SMM programs.
Our thanks to the Art Angels, artists and local donors, participants, volunteers and many who supported these efforts for our success!
Ellie Poorman, Chair of the Arts Event for SMM
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2011 Arts Dinner – Saint Martin’s House Resident’s Talk
Janice and Sister Patricia
My name is Janice and before I moved to Saint Martin’s House I had been through a lot.
In between 2000 and 2002, all before my 14th birthday, I had lost my dad, mom-mom, pop-pop, and then my mom.
After my mom died I lived with my step-father only to experience many forms of abuse at his hand.
After that I went to live with other family members.
Then at 16 I went into foster care.
Then upon turning 18 I was fortunate enough to get a settlement from my mother’s untimely death.
Soon after I entered into a relationship where I was taken advantage of and soon my money was gone.
My next relationship was even worse. He abused me physically.
I was strong enough to get out of that relationship. But by the end of that relationship I was a single mother of 1 with 1 on the way.
Over the course of the next two years I moved from place to place.
Little did I know how much my life was going to change. In January of this year I moved to Saint Martin’s House.
Since moving to Saint Martin’s House I have accomplished so much in such a short time.
I have consistently worked as a volunteer at the Caroline Nursing Home for 20 hours per week.
I have actively participated in the cooking challenge, wellness recovery action plan, the banking class, first aid and CPR class, and the budgeting classes – to name just a few things since being at Saint Martin’s House.
These programs have helped me build my self-confidence and make me value myself in a positive way.
On October 10th I will be starting my CNA/GNA course.
My plans after my course are to work in a doctor’s office or in the hospital and start saving for my future.
My time at Saint Martin’s has been a wonderful experience so far and if I wasn’t there I would not have gone back to school.
I’m very thankful I have that continued support until I transition out of Saint Martin’s.
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“Toes and Tushies” Campaign to Provide New Socks and Underwear for Needy Children
Washington College students helped campus First Lady Elisabeth Reiss and Saint Martin's Ministries volunteer Ellie Poorman, second and third from left, publicize the new Toes and Tushies project at a community clubs fair September 9.
CHESTERTOWN, MD—Washington College First Lady Elisabeth Reiss has teamed up with local elementary and middle schools and Saint Martin’s Ministries to fill a gap in the flow of donated clothing to children from financially needy families.
The new “Toes and Tushies” campaign will, as the colorful name suggests, collect brand-new socks and underwear for children in sizes 3T to 18. “There is a lot available to families in terms of gently used pants, shirts and coats,” says Reiss, “but consignment shops and charities can’t sell or give away used undergarments. So a child may be clean and well dressed on the outside, but have a great need for a fresh pair of undies or socks.”
Donors can purchase packets of new underwear and socks for the project or contribute cash to the cause.
The Toes and Tushies project will collect both newly purchased items and money donations for the cause. Collection bins for the purchased items will be placed in Hodson Commons on the Washington College campus, and at Scottie’s Shoe Store, 307 High Street, in downtown Chestertown. In addition, for four consecutive Tuesdays and Thursdays this month (September 13, 15, 20, and 22), Washington College students will set up sales tables in Hodson Commons where donors can purchase underwear and socks for the cause from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.
First Lady Reiss kicked off the local campaign by scouring area stores for inexpensive underwear and socks for donors to re-purchase and donate. She and Saint Martin’s supporters Ellie Poorman and Ann McColl manned a table during the College’s Club Fair on Friday, where dozens of packages of the clothing items were displayed.
Saint Martin’s Ministries, which is based in Ridgely, MD, and assists impoverished individuals and families with everything from housing and food to job training, will distribute the donations to its clients in five Eastern Shore communities, including Kent. School nurses in Kent County’s public elementary and middle schools will get them to the appropriate students in their communities, as well.
Your kind donation to Saint Martin’s Ministries will be used for operational costs of all our program activities and administrative support of these activities. If you wish your donation to be used for a specific area of Saint Martin’s programs (such as the Toes and Tushies project), please so indicate in the area marked “Purpose” on the donation screen. You will receive a receipt for your donation via email.
Please click on the Donate button below to enter the details of your donation.
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Sixth Annual Arts Dinner & Auction – October 7, 2011
Update!
Click here to view our Live Auction Items!
Click here to view our Silent Auction Items!
Click here to view our Chair-ity Chair Wish List!
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