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15th Annual Turkey Drive is Sunday, November 12
Our 15th Annual Turkey Drive to support the House of Bread is Sunday, November 12, 2023. The Franciscan Center is seeing an increase in need in recent months… those coming to our sandwich door has doubled! Our partner organizations, such as the House of Bread, are also faced with meeting increased need. The turkeys collected…
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Help Feed Our Neighbors
Pasta Tuesdays Can you help with Pasta Tuesdays? We have been serving close to 80 meals each week and are always looking for dishes, ingredients, and help with prep and serving. Food needs: For Tuesday pasta dinners, we have plenty of opportunities open for volunteers to drop off a pound of your favorite pasta dish…
New Clothing Collection for Ukrainian and Haitian Youth Refugees
September 9 and 10, 2023 New fall and winter clothing, gift cards, and additional items click to learn how you can help Can you imagine trying to pack your whole world into one suitcase? That is the dilemma that confronted those fleeing their homeland from both the Ukraine and Haiti. Each individual refugee is entitled…
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Refugee Children’s Clothing Drive: Update!
Thank you for a generous response This statement from one of the refugee coordinators in Massachusetts says it all, “Once again, you’ve succeeded our expectations! Amazing support from the parishioners at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church! The outpouring of donations to clothe the Haitian refugee children was truly remarkable. More than 220 boxes and bags were…
Legislative update from Fr. Mike and GHIAA
Our ministry is one of sacrificing for others, of taking care of those in the margins… because they are all children of God. Our partnership with GHIAA helps us reach out and do this hard work with like minded people from congregations from across our region. Based on the feedback from people in all 51…
Advocacy update from Fr. Mike and a call to action
Dear St. Patrick – St. Anthony family, Over the past months, many of you have heard me preach on important issues such as educational equity, environmental justice, affordable housing, the health of our youth, and reduction in gun violence. You may have also read the testimony I submitted to the legislative hearings on these issues.…
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Mother’s Day Diaper Drive 2023
It has been a few years since our SPSA community has done a major drive to support local family and children’s programs. Catholic Charities and other Hartford family and children’s programs will be the recipients of the diapers. We thought it was important to put the diaper crisis for lower income families into some perspective for…
Join us for Rebuilding Together Hartford on April 29, 2023
The Franciscan Center is excited to invite you to participate in National Rebuilding Day on Saturday – April 29 (7:30 am to 3:30 pm – lunch provided). This annual event brings together volunteers from across the country to revitalize and repair homes and non-profit organizations in need. We are proud to be a sponsor of…
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Join our team to Walk Against Hunger May 20, 2023
All proceeds raised from our team will benefit the House of Bread. Come join us for a fun morning of walking a 1.5 mile course in Hartford and making a difference at the same time! St. Patrick – St. Anthony and the Franciscan Center have a long history of helping those facing food insecurity in…
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Palm Sunday Food Drive: April 1&2, 2023
For this season of Lent, we would like to ask you to consider not to give up something but instead to do something to put your faith into action. “May we start out Holy Week living out our faith by bringing in food items for our brothers and sisters dealing with food insecurity. – Fr.…
Realm: Our way to stay connected
Realm is a cloud database software that we use to stay connected with you, our community. As a part of our faith community, you have the chance to make sure your information is up to date using your computer or smart phone so that we can all stay connected. About our Faith Community Our faith…
Collection for Migrant Children through March 5 at 8 am
The Exhibit in the Clare Gallery entitled “A Suspension of Perception” engages us with the reality of immigration at our southern border and with the challenges faced by new arrivals. Help for the weary Backpacks filled with personal care items and clothing Two organizations, The Migrant Center and Grannies Respond, have been assisting adults and…
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January Mission Trip with St. Francis Builds & Announcing the Next Trip
Puerto Rico January 8-15, 2023 From Father Mike I have been doing mission work now for over 25 years and some of the profoundest and most enjoyable and spiritual experiences I have had were in sharing these experiences with folks I knew and those who God just “plopped into my lap.” This past week, I…
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Our Community Comes Together to Aid Ukrainian Refugee Families
January 7, 2023 was our collection of household goods to aid Ukrainian refugee families within the Diocese of Springfield, MA. Your generosity exceeded all expectations of what we thought we might collect to help families from Ukraine, who really needed everything from clothing to household linens to kitchen items. Approximately 150 cars lined the street…
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Parking Lot Gates Operational Starting Monday, January 9, 2023
The parking lot gates will once again be operational starting Monday, January 9. Before the pandemic, the parking lot was an important source of revenue for the church, and now that the gates have been fixed, we will once again be able to utilize this source of funding. Basic instructions: when the gate is down,…
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Help our Ukrainian Brothers and Sisters: Household Goods Collection January 7, 2023
Our own Sr. Ginny Sheehan, SNDdeN is partnering with St. Mary’s Church in Longmeadow, MA in their support of the Sts. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicopee, MA to aid Ukrainian refugee families who have arrived within the Diocese of Springfield, MA. These families have very few belongings. St. Mary’s Food for the…
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14th Annual Turkey Drive is Sunday, November 13
Our 14th Annual Turkey Drive to support the House of Bread is Sunday, November 13, 2022. The Franciscan Center is seeing an increase in need in recent months… those coming to our sandwich door has doubled! Our partner organizations, such as the House of Bread, are also faced with meeting increased need. The turkeys collected…
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Clothing Drive Thank You
A thank you from Fr. Mike: It is said that many individual drops of water form an ocean. In our call for action, we quoted Francis of Assisi saying, “A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows”. Last weekend, many rays of sunbeams came together to support this year’s Clothing Drive to…
Celebrate St. Francis
As a Franciscan parish, we always come together to celebrate our community and our Franciscan heritage during the month of October. Check out all the events we have planned to gather together, build our faith community, and contemplate how we can share our gifts and bring peace to all we encounter. Although registration is not…
Mission Trip with St. Francis Builds
We’re going to Puerto Rico January 8-15, 2023 Are you looking for a way to help others… gain a sense of community and expand your spirituality? …Consider a Build Trip! St. Francis Builds (SFB) was developed 16 years ago by Fr. Mike Johnson while working in Maryland at St. Camillus parish. SFB has worked with…
Clothing Drive October 2, 2022
St. Patrick – St. Anthony Parish and the House of Bread have been helping one another since the friars came to Hartford over 30 years ago. Over time, the outreach has brought many dispossessed people not only to the doors of the House of Bread, but also to the doors of the Franciscan Center for Urban…
Rebuilding Together Hartford 2021
In October of 2021, a team of parishioners joined together with others in the Hartford area to rebuild a house in Hartford. Enjoy this video clip from WFSB about that day.