The Mary’s Meals Quilt and Nativity Scene Raffle fundraiser kicked off two weekends ago with a presentation at all Masses at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Perry. So far we have sold more than $500 in tickets.
Both the quilts and the nativity scene will be at the Art on the Prairie, both days, in the foyer of the Perry Public Library and displayed at the entrance of the craft show at the McCreary Community Building Nov. 18.
Tickets are $5 for the quilt raffle and $5 for the nativity scene raffle. Drawing will occur Nov. 18 after the craft show.
The nativity scene was hand-crocheted 40 years ago and donated by a parishioner. The stable that completes the set was crafted by Fr. Chris Reising out of an old barn board. The queen-size quilt and the smaller throw quilt were sewn by Diane Caufield and the ladies of the parish.
Several years ago, St. Patrick Church sponsored the building of a feeding kitchen with the Mary’s Meals program at the Lusako Primary School in Malawi, Africa. Every year we hold fundraisers to help support the ongoing feeding costs of the students who attend the Lusako School.
There are currently more than 1,300 students in grades one through eight who receive a fortified hot meal each day at school, cooked by volunteers and paid for by the Mary’s Meals program. For many of the children, this is the only meal they get for the day.
It costs only $19.50 to feed a child for an entire school year.
Mary’s Meals is a global movement that sets up school feeding projects in some of the world’s poorest communities, where hunger and poverty prevent children from going to school and getting an education. They provide one daily meal in a place of education in order to attract chronically poor children into a classroom, where they receive an education that can, in the future, be their ladder out of poverty.
Mary’s Meals began in 2002 by feeding 200 children in Malawi. They now feed over 1.2 million children in 14 countries across five continents every school day. Where Mary’s Meals is provided, there is a rise in enrollment, attendance and attainment.
With 300 million hungry children in the world, their work is just beginning. The number of children Mary’s Meals is helping has been increasing steadily thanks to support from across the globe. They work hard to keep operating costs low and to ensure that at least 93 cents of every dollar donated is spent directly on feeding the children.
This is only possible because most of the work is done by volunteers, who carry out lots of little acts of love on behalf of Mary’s Meals. All proceeds from the raffled quilts and nativity scene support Mary’s Meals, so get your tickets while they are still available.
