St. Brendan Parish Partnership with
Children and Life Mission (CALM)
Namugongo, Uganda

NEWS:

Chinese Raffle and Dinner Saturday, April 5, 2008: to benefit the children of Uganda. Reservations must be made in advance by calling the parish office at 440-777-7222, picking up a brochure in the back of the church, or by clicking here to print out the reservation form. Tickets are $25 each or $40 per couple and include dinner catered by Massimo da Milano, dessert, coffee and pop. A cash bar will be available for beer and wine. All proceeds will be donated to Fr. Hattie’s mission. Limited number of seats available. Grand Prize Auction item: One week vacation condo in the mountains of North Carolina! Plus numerous other prizes to be raffled or bid on in a silent auction, including gift certificates for restaurants, stores, salons, hotels, and entertainment; tickets to professional sporting events; jewelry; theme baskets; door prizes and much more!!! Doors open at 6:30pm, dinner begins at 7:30pm, and the raffle begins at 8:30pm. Persons under 21 not permitted.

2008 Visit - St. Brendan Parish Council has agreed to support a group of parishioners that would like to pursue a two week visit to CALM in the Summer of 2008.  Here is the group's statement of purpose: 
We, as Saint Brendan Parishioners, in the likeness of Christ, desire to deepen our relationship with the Children and Life Mission (CALM) In Uganda.  By traveling there, we hope to personally connect with the children of CALM.  We wish to share our resources, time, talents, personal presence, and faith and walk together as spiritual companions.  We remain open to the gifts and blessings shared with us in this relationship, and bring back all that we have learned, heard, seen, and experienced in order to share the voices of CALM with our Saint Brendan Parish Community.

HISTORY:

Fr. Gene Hattie, S.J., an 85 year-old Jesuit priest, began rescuing children from the streets of Kampala, Uganda in 2001. Many of these children lost their parents to AIDS or Malaria, while others were abducted and forced to become soldiers in a rebel army in Northern Uganda. Fr. Hattie, through generous donations from benefactors, ensures that each child has not only the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter, but also an education, a sense of safety, and most importantly the knowledge that they are loved.

CALM (Children and Life Mission) as Fr. Hattie named the orphanage he founded, is currently a home for about 130 boys between the ages of 5 and 12.

Volunteers representing the St. Brendan Church community will be visiting Uganda in June 2008 to deepen our parish’s relationship with the children.
 

CORRESPONDENCE:

Letters from Father Hattie (Coming Soon)

PAST PARTNERSHIP EVENTS:

November 2005: “Inaugural Event” Donut Sunday to introduce the parish to CALM. A PowerPoint presentation complete with pictures of the boys was displayed.

Winter 2005: “Pen Pal Project” Members of the St. Brendan community were invited to send pictures and write a letter to the boys at CALM telling about their families and life in Ohio. Some of the teachers and staff at CALM wrote back!

Winter 2006: “Design a T-Shirt Project” The students in St. Brendan School as well as the boys at CALM were given the opportunity to design one side of a t-shirt with the theme “Anchoring Friendships with CALM.” The Social Justice Commission chose the drawings that best depicted the theme and created a t-shirt. The front was designed by a St. Brendan student and the back was designed by several of the boys at CALM. The t-shirts were sold at $10 each or 3 for $25, with a BOGO policy…Buy One GIVE One free! Over $2300 was raised from this project and every boy at CALM received a t-shirt for Christmas.

July 2007: “Fr. Hattie Has a Farm…EIEIO!” Fr. Hattie wanted to give the boys something to take care of, as well as reap the benefits of what the animals produce (eggs, milk etc.) After the masses, the Social Justice Commission in conjunction with St. Brendan’s youth group, sold raffle tickets for a children’s collapsible barn-tent. In one weekend, after the masses, St. Brendan parishioners raised over $3,000 for CALM to buy farm animals, like goats, rabbits, chickens, and pigs.

September 2007: “Rummage Sale” The Uganda Fund Raising Committee is comprised of 4 members of the Uganda Team of 10 traveling to CALM in the summer of 2008, as well as 8 parishioners who have been inspired by Fr. Hattie’s work. They organized a rummage sale to raise money that would be donated to help defray the cost of the trip to Africa. Thousands of items were donated by members of St. Brendan, St. Richard, and St. Clarence (North Olmsted cluster parishes). Over $2200 was raised.

December 2007: “The Change Game” The students at St. Brendan School were invite to participate in a fund raiser for CALM. Each class received a jar to fill up with change, and the class with the highest total of change won a prize. The catch: dollar bills subtract from your grand total! Over $700 was raised in one week thanks to our generous students!

LINKS:

St. Anthony Messenger, December 2005 - Story about Father Hattie and CALM by Father Donald Dunson

2007 Desk Calendar (.pdf File)