Dear Putnam County friends and family,
In October of 2018, a small group of women met to discuss a heart-wrenching topic: miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss. We identified a need for spiritual support for the families in our area who are faced with this tragedy. Twelve months later, the new ministry of St. Catherine’s Embrace brought together over 150 grieving families to honor and memorialize our lost little ones at a special Mass at St. John the Baptist church in Glandorf.
That was the beginning of a special new ministry called St. Catherine’s Embrace. Fast forward through another year of planning and training of volunteers, (and through a year of global pandemic challenges), and we are ready to launch a more intense countywide promotion of this ministry. The mission of St. Catherine’s Embrace is to ensure that no Putnam County family grieves this unique loss alone. Our goal is to reach out to parents (regardless of faith) who have recently lost a child through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death, and provide them with resources, support, and beautiful, handmade keepsakes made by local crafters. Through these gifts, our personal visits by trained volunteers, and the annual Memorial Mass, we hope to comfort the family in a small but meaningful way, and let them know we understand and acknowledge their loss.
Here’s where we are asking for your help and support.
Our volunteers donate the labor to make the wooden memorial keepsake boxes and the handmade gifts (baby
rosaries, tiny blankets, artwork and more) but there are costs for the materials and for the books, prayer cards, medals and other items we include. We are looking for sponsors to help cover these costs.
Can you and/or your organization help? Enclosed is our brochure, a photo of the box and its contents, and a sponsorship form. Please consider a donation to St. Catherine’s Embrace. You can choose to support a specific part of the ministry, or make a general donation to cover expenses. Your dollars will all go directly to the ministry as there are no paid positions or administrative costs associated with St. Catherine’s Embrace. We are simply people helping people in our own
backyards. We have already distributed multiple keepsake boxes in our county and even beyond. The need is urgent and growing. Would you join us?
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any one of us at the numbers below. Thank you in advance for your consideration!
CLICK THE FORM BELOW
it will open a .pdf that you download to your computer, print, fill out and mail in.
