Update from the Peace and Justice Ministry
After a brief dormant period in the early months of the pandemic, the Peace & Justice Ministry has continued its support of several programs in the St. Louis area though our participation in the West County Collaborative, an interdenominational group of churches that support various types of social justice work. We have an ongoing relationship with the Criminal Justice Ministry, which helps men who have been released from prison to get re-established in the community. In the last 6 months we have contributed twice to their food pantry, whose needs have shifted. In December we contributed personal hygiene & snack items, & more recently we contributed enough cleaning supplies to ready four apartments for new residents, as well as additional personal hygiene items. Every other month we have been contributing food as well as cleaning & personal hygiene items to the pantry at Claver House, which supports many programs to enrich the lives of residents in the Ville neighborhood of North St. Louis. Finally, in March a contingent of nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet went to our southern border to provide aid to immigrants & refugees. Our contributions included everything from medicines to combs & brushes to coloring books to underwear. We welcome new contributors to these collections. If you would like to participate in the collections for Claver House, you may contact Mary Drastal. If you would like to participate in the collections for the Criminal Justice Ministry, you may contact Daryl Normant.
