Matthew 25 Ministry
CURRENT AND UPCOMING MATTHEW25 MINISTRY PROJECTS
February 2025 Update
All we seem to hear about these days as we check out at the pharmacy or market is how contagious the flu is this season! We listen to it in phone conversations as someone we know has COVID-19 or the flu. Everyone seems to have the flu! It’s prevalent this winter, but it’s not the only thing that has to be contagious this season.
In our daily walk with God, we often hear about joy and how joy is an internal gift of the Holy Spirit. The bliss of feeling such joy and happiness is like walking on a rainbow of colored marshmallows and never letting a smile leave your face. You radiate goodness, and people sense it. People around you want that! Your gift of joy becomes contagious to those around you. Matthew 25 understands this feeling. We live with it every time we prepare and deliver to our pantries. Our hearts feel full as we see the excitement in our pantry volunteers as they help us unload our donations! This feeling fuels us! Our work for the church fulfills us and allows us to experience God's gifts firsthand. Perhaps you want to experience this type of joy or fulfillment. You can, it's easy. Next time you're at the market, pick up your favorite cereal, pasta, snacks, soup, etc., and drop them off in our bin. The feeling of giving stirs something within. Giving is contagious. We challenge you to try this. If going to the market and picking up something isn’t for you, please donate to M25 through Vanco. We will happily shop for you. We hope our bulletins and gratitude from M25 and the pantries are enough to transfer those feelings of joy to our parish. Without our church and your donations, we can’t experience this feeling. Your donations are not just a contribution but a vital part of our community. Next time you read our bulletin, close your eyes and see yourself delivering precious food. We think our joy and purpose will become contagious to you as well!
We are thrilled to be taking a small group to Manna on Main on February 26th to assist with preparing meals. Christine Ferello coordinated this project for us. We are eagerly looking forward to sharing the details of this experience with all of you in a future bulletin and finding new ways to give.
Lent starts next week, and Matthew 25 will be in our Easter Meat drive mode. Look for details soon! Please consider donating a little extra to help offset egg prices. Eggs are incredibly precious to our food-insecure families during Easter. It’s our goal to provide every shopper with a dozen eggs. The thought of being able to give eggs and meat is another way we raise our “joy thermometer! “We feel triumphant after our deliveries!
Food For Thought:
“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.”
-Helen Keller
January 2025 Update
How many times in January do you start thinking about resolutions and positive changes for the new year? These thoughts have often crossed our minds, but how often do we implement these changes? 2025 is a new year with a sense of renewal and hope. We catch ourselves saying, “This is going to be a great year!” Let’s not just say it but instead act on it. It’s not as difficult as it may seem. If our ministry could be one thing, we’d like to be known as difference makers. We do achieve this every year thanks to the support of our parish. Angel Tree, Turkey Drive, and our Lenten Meat Drive help us pull this off in a big way, but it's also remembering the small stuff like perpetual monthly deliveries and our February service project, which is in the works. We do make a difference and impact so many lives for the better. We just received a thank you card from an Angel Tree recipient. She waited until Christmas to open her gift…because it was her only gift. We received beautiful cards and photos of children opening their gifts as well. Most of them were necessities like coats and sweatshirts that you generously bought. In a busy world with so much sadness shrouding us, this is our reminder that Matthew 25 is a difference maker, shedding light and hope for those who aren’t as blessed as ourselves. If you would like to act on your New Year's resolutions from a charitable perspective, we welcome your help and your donations.
Thank you for giving Matthew 25 the opportunity to continue serving our parish in 2025. We are revving up for deliveries and spring projects. It will be a great year, and we will continue to impact our communities positively. Hopefully, we can increase our giving this year as we continue to fight food insecurity. Together, we can positively impact our world and live with compassion for our less fortunate neighbors.
Happy New Year, and don’t forget to work on those New Year's resolutions!
Contact Sophia Penning at sophiagreekgirl@gmail.com or Lisa Trivelis at oceancitymom1@gmail.com with any questions
Food for thought: “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“May the timeless message of Christmas fill your hearts and homes with joy throughout the coming year.” Blessed Christmas greetings from Matthew 25.
It was a Sunday of joyous chaos as we sorted through a mountain of over 150 successfully distributed gifts. There was such a happy energy as parishioners came by with their gifts and cards. We worked fast and hard to check tags and pile the many gifts our Angel Tree collected. Gifts come from near and far and are part of this enormous distribution. We love the enthusiasm and support that we receive from our parish. We received gift cards from parishioners who were out of the state yet wanted to participate! We couldn’t have gotten through Sunday without the help of our Goyans, aka “Santa's helpers,” Sofia Bougioukas and Barbara Louridas. Special thanks to Gina Giannoumis, who works so hard with her school, and our endless text messages to orchestrate the recipients for her school. We thank Aspira Schools and our Homeless Ministry for their participation. This is truly one of our most gratifying community service projects. When all gifts make it to their designated homes, Matthew 25 sits back and puts our focus on the magnitude of blessings that we reflect on at Christmas.
We end the last bulletin of 2024 with a final thank you! Our hearts are full as we prepare for the Nativity of Our Lord next week.
Food for thought: “God gave His greatest gift to us on that first Christmas Day, and may the wonder of it always guide you in your way. Merry Christmas! ~ unknown
MISSION
Our mission is to share our love of Christ with our needy and poor neighbors. Our message doesn’t change from year to year, and our purpose is to continue to serve our neighbors and live our faith by bringing awareness to our parish of the food insecurities plaguing our local suburbs.
We work hard to fulfill scripture and maintain consistent perpetual giving to Seeds of Hope and Somerton Interfaith Food Pantry. It remains important to us to be a stable food source for the two pantries that have come to rely on us.
We conduct an annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive every year, organize an annual "Angel Tree" campaign to distribute its donated gifts to needy local children and families during the holiday season, and coordinate a collection of meats every Lenten season. We prepare cooked meals for local meal delivery programs periodically.
Throughout the year, we are approached by after-school clubs, guidance counselors, and others in a time of need. These are not listed on the calendar as they just happen. We look at our budget, and if there are available funds, we act on helping those with reasonable requests. We provide help only to secure and reputable organizations.
PARTICIPATION
There are numerous ways to get involved! Whether you're interested in delivering to the pantry, preparing meals, or identifying community needs, we welcome your volunteer hands. Contact any of Mathew 25's ministry leaders to learn more about how you can contribute to this essential humanitarian effort. Check our Weekly Bulletin and Community Calendar for current and upcoming projects.
CONTACTS
Sophia Penning, sophiagreekgirl@gmail.com
Lisa Trivelis, oceancitymom1@gmail.com