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What's New
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A Note from Our Director
Colleen Knauf
Today I awoke to the realization that Saint’s Place is
celebrating our 15th year. How can that be? It seems like yesterday when we
at St. Louis Church sponsored our very first family from Somalia in 1998.
I am most grateful to God for opening my eyes to the needs of incoming
refugees and for providing so many sources of support for this ministry. I
am grateful to the Catholic Family Center for the amazing job they do of
resettling the families in Rochester and grateful to each of you who support
our work.
It’s hard to believe, but together, we have helped set up apartments for 766
refugees in just this past year. During the past 12 months, over 1,000
refugees have “shopped” at our Clothing Closet for much needed clothes and
some 150 refugees have been tutored at our tutoring sites.
From the deepest place in my heart, I thank you for joining me in the
mission of welcoming in Christ’s name, the strangers among us. Please pray
for peace in our world.
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Saint's Place Gala
Annual
Super Sale
Begins July 10th
Walking
in Someone Else’s Shoes
An Inside Look at the What being Thankful if All About
By: Julia Stanchus
Saint’s Place - The Green Machine!!!
Every day volunteers at Saint’s Place sort and organize boxes of donated
goods. The donated items range from clothing, household goods and
electronics to anything found in grandpa’s basement. More than half of the
items we receive cannot be used by the refugees. This creates a new
challenge for our volunteers, finding a home for these unwanted items. Many
hours of hard work that we could better use for helping our refugees is
spent researching and locating organizations that could use the items.
Useable items that would have found their way to a landfill find a home at
Saint’s Place where they are given to newly arrived refugees or put into our
Annual Sale. Our Annual Sale is our number #1 recycling venue. This year the
Annual Super Sale is scheduled for Wednesday, July 18th through Saturday,
July 21st. The proceeds from this sale have grown to over $45,000. This
money is used for purchasing beds and other necessities for the newly
arriving refugees.
Cellphones, eyeglasses, plastic bags, batteries, broken glass, metal,
electronics, printer cartridges and other donations are sorted and taken by
volunteers to the designated recycling center. One of our many goals is to
recycle as much as possible.
In addition to the Annual Super Sale, we need to find “good homes” for off
season clothing and other items that we cannot store or use for the sale.
Our storage space is limited, so finding organizations to take good, clean,
clothing is crucial to running a smooth operation. The following is a list
of some of those organizations.
ABVI Goodwill picks up most of the items we cannot use for the refugees or
our Annual Sale. We provide them with many pounds of clothing each week that
we cannot use. They in return give us gift cards to use in their stores to
purchase items we need for the refugees.
Habitat for Humanity takes hanging ceiling fixtures, large furniture pieces
and those odd items that we cannot use.
Matthew’s Closet is most happy to accept large size clothing and king size
sheets.
St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality is always in need of men’s ex-large
clothing and shoes.
R Community Bikes They repair the bikes, if needed and give them (at no
cost) to people in the community. We often refer our refugees to them, since
the refugees have no other mode of transportation.
Angel of Mercy ships summer dresses and shorts to Africa for poor children.
Birthright and Focus Pregnancy Center both organizations are very willing
and happy to receive baby and small children’s clothing.
Orphanage in Haiti for disabled children. We send them children’s’ summer
clothing which we have no room to store during the winter months.
Wish
List
Our most critical needs this week:
| Dishes |
Large pots and pans |
Large mixing bowls |
| Casserole Dishes |
Glassware |
Tea kettles |
| Lamps |
Ironing boards |
Twin sheets (flat and fitted) |
| Blankets |
Strollers |
Dressers |
| Coffee tables and end tables |
Kitchen tables and chairs |
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Items Not Accepted
| King or queen beds frames |
Mattresses |
| Computers/ computer desks |
Sleeper sofa or sofa larger than 90" or
sofas that have rips tears, broken springs or covers. |
| Recliners |
Office furniture, large desks, chairs,
filing cabinets |
| Gas dryer/ microwaves that are counter
mounts |
Suitcases |
| Encyclopedias |
China cabinets |
| Entertainment Centers |
Outdoor furniture |
| Dishwashers |
Any appliance over 10 years old |
| Only in season clean, clothing |
Artificial Christmas Trees/or Holiday
decorations |
| Adult books |
Stuffed Animals, puzzles, games |
| Stereo equipment |
Outdoor tools, gas grills, lawn mowers,
etc |
| Exercise equipment |
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Nationality of Refugees
Our Newsletter Committee
is looking for a few good writers to join our team.
Our goal is to be able to publish and distribute a Saint's Place newsletter
four times per year. Please call Colleen Knauf @385-6860, if interested.
 We
are pleased to announce that Saints Place is now included in
the United Way’s provider list. This Fall, please ask your
United Way Representative for a donor designation form and
enter #2401 for Saint’s Place.
Together, we can change lives.
Thank you for your generous support.
Please stop by our convenient location @ 46 S. Main Street
or call
Colleen
Knauf [385-6860]
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