Thanksgiving project

We've embarked this week on what started out as a small idea and has become a large project: collecting winter wear for the refugees enrolled at our St. Benedict Education Center. Thanks to boxes from our friend who owns a local Hallmark Gold Crown Store, we started to build this mountain of boxes in our library--labeled Boots, Blankets, Sweaters, Coats/Jackets, Gloves, etc. Suddenly we were going back to the Hallmark store for more boxes and piling them 2-3 high!

The Sisters have been most generous in responding to this real and present need. The collection runs through this Sunday which will get the Erie-winter gear into SBEC right before Thanksgiving. One good-intentioned sister said to me, "Maybe we should open this to our oblates, too." My response? "There are 280 of them! We'll have more than we can handle just with the 100 of us--maybe another time!"

P.S. We had our first measurable snow this Tuesday: an inch and a half--but more will surely come!