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Community OutreachSt. Mary Parish helps a number of local organizations that provide assistance to people living in Hudson and Summit County. Below are some of the programs of outreach to the community.
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St. Vincent de Paul Conference
The mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Conference, a Catholic lay organization, is to be a network of friends, inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.
Click Here for more information about various ways the St. Vincent de Paul Conference assists the local community.
Click Here for more information about community assistance available for those in need.
Anyone in need of assistance or persons who are interested in becoming part of the ministry of St. Vincent de Paul, call the St. Vincent de Paul Helpline (this is a voicemail line only, so please leave a detailed message and contact information).
[330-653-8063] -
Habitat for Humanity
Did you know that St. Mary Church is a standing member of the Hudson Habitat for Humanity Coalition? The Hudson Coalition is dedicated to building at least one Habitat house in Northern Summit County each year and has done so since 1991. The Hudson Coalition seeks broad Hudson community involvement in providing simple, decent housing for people in need. Each year, from May through December, St. Mary assumes a major stewardship for the construction of a Habitat for Humanity house. We provide overall fundraising and construction management, organize volunteers, and see the project through to completion and transfer to the new owner. Our Coalition is a partner with Habitat for Humanity of Summit County. The Summit County organization has built more than 122 Habitat houses in the last 15 years.
For more information, contact
[email protected] -
Hunger Ministry
The Hunger Group of St. Mary Parish has been active since 1988. We began by collecting non-perishable food items and donating them to area hunger shelters, as well as families in our own community of Hudson. We also began to volunteer to help St. Bernard/St. Mary Parishes in Akron with their ministry of providing a bagged lunch each day and a hot meal in the evening to inner city Akron residents.
St. Mary Hunger Ministry - St. Bernard Bagged Lunch Program:
Please help us feed the hungry!!! The St. Mary Hunger Ministry is providing donations each month so that St. Bernard in downtown Akron can provide bagged lunches for homeless men, women and families. A small group gets together the second Sunday of each month to make the sandwiches in our parish kitchen. In addition, parishioners donate various food items such as fruit and chips. Everything is then delivered to St. Bernard Parish in Akron where St. Bernard parishioners assemble the bagged lunches and hand them out. We would love to have you join us for this rewarding and impactful ministry!
For more information, email our parish lead volunteers,
Julia Tustin and Mary Apicella:
[email protected]St. Bernard/St. Mary Hot Meal Program:
Our parishioners also prepare a meal for 250 Akron residents and serve the meal at St. Bernard/St. Mary Church in Akron twice each year. Some volunteers prepare food or desserts in their home and other volunteers serve the dinner at St. Bernard/St.Mary Church.Food Collection:
This ongoing collection of groceries helps those in need the Hudson area. We partner with the Hudson Food Pantry, which is under the direction of Hudson Community Services Association. Donations of food items, as well as the list of most needed items can be found in our brown narthex. -
Peter Maurin Center
The Peter Maurin Center is an outreach ministry in South Akron. We first opened in 2006 and are located at 1096 South Main Street. The Peter Maurin Center is a place where all of God’s children are welcome and can find food and drink, friendship, and God’s love. Our mission is to be a response of love to the Gospel of our Lord. We are part of the Catholic Worker Community of Akron.
The Peter Maurin Center operates solely from the hard work of many volunteers and by the donations we receive.
The Center is open on Tuesdays from 10am-3:00pm, Fridays and Sundays from 12:00pm-2:00pm.
St. Mary Parish is committed to support this drop-in center in Akron and assist in a number of ways:- Volunteering—spending time with the men and women, homeless or poor, who visit on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays; serving a meal.
- Providing a hot meal on the fourth Sunday of every other month including the odd months only (i.e. 1-January, 3-March, etc.).
- Donating travel-size notions anytime, as well as bikes, bike parts and locks, sleeping bags, warm washable coats in season and backpacks.
Click on these links...
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Peter Maurin Center - Weekly Bagged MealsLooking for a way to help the less fortunate? Do your kids need service hours for school/scouts/other organizations? We definitely need your help with donating pre-packed brown bag meals and they need only be dropped off at our North Hudson front porch!
The Peter Maurin Center (PMC) is located in downtown Akron and serves homeless and marginalized individuals/families in the Greater Akron area by offering prepared meals year-round as well as an emergency shelter in the winter. The Center also has a ministry that travels out to various homeless campsites throughout Akron to deliver food and supplies. The homemade lunch bags we provide go to each individual as they leave the shelter or they are directly handed out to the homeless at their campsites. -
Servants 4 Christ
Each summer, teens in our Life Teen program spend one week on a service retreat to make a difference in our local community. St. Mary partners with other high school youth groups to provide an experience of service for the teens, as well as helping them to discern and process the service they do and integrate it into their spiritual lives so that their formation will be as Christian disciples. The service provided includes things such as: painting, yard and home cleanup, small building projects, etc.
Contact the Life Teen Office
330-653-8118 ext.257