Reach Out Sunday

General Information

Reach Out Sunday’s are typically the 3rd Sunday (2^nd Sunday in Apr, Aug, Nov, Dec) of every month when donations of food, gently used clothing and monetary gifts are collected for the poor of St. Vincent’s & St. Alphonsus “Rock” parishes.

• Food Donations: All non-perishable food donations are welcome including “Meal-a-Month”. Please use grocery bags, double them as needed and drop-off outside of the Multi-Purpose-Room (MPR) between 8am to 12pm on Reach Out Sunday.
• Gently-used clothing donations are also needed. Please put these in secured large plastic bags and drop-off outside the MPR on Reach Out Sunday.
• Monetary donations can be placed in the wooden Reach Out boxes at the main church doors.
• Tax receipts for your food / clothing donations are available. Please see the Reach Out representative inside the MPR.
• Service Certificates for students in need of service time credit. Please see the Reach Out representative inside the MPR.

Links for more information:

Menu for Jan/Feb

• 2 packages Knorr Red Beans & Rice
• Envelope Biscuit Mix
• Canned mixed vegetables
• Canned pears
• Plastic bottle juice
• Extras: Box of powdered milk, cereal with fruit, powdered drink mixes, peanut butter, crackers, canned beans (red, black, etc)

Menu for Sep/Oct

• 2 cans of chili with beans
• 1 box Martha White corn bread mix
• Canned Mexican style corn
• Saltine Crackers
• Powdered drink mix
• Extras: Box of powdered milk, cereal with fruit, powdered drink mixes, peanut butter, crackers, canned beans (red, black, etc)

Reach Out Recipient Parishes

St. Alphonsus Rock Parish

The mission of the Wilhelmina Hardin Center is to serve and care for the needy.  We do this through the operation of our food pantry and outreach center.  Our goal is to meet as many of our clients’ needs as possible.  Toward this goal, we provide the following services:

•             Distribute food to families once a month, based on family size.
•             Provide clothing
•             Distribute personal care and cleaning products when available
•             Provide household items
•             Offer assistance with rent and utilities (as funds permit)
•             Offer transportation assistance (as funds permit)
•             Provide a listening ear and appropriate referrals when needed

In addition, we have an annual Back to School project through which we provide backpacks, school supplies, socks and underwear for school-aged children. 

In December, we end the year on a high note with our much appreciated Christmas Giveaway.  This year our donors, many of whom were your parishioners, did an outstanding job of filling our families’ requests of gift cards.  We have had so much positive feedback about the wonderful Christmas that our clients enjoyed. 

Donate Furniture

Trying to dispose of some useable, no longer needed furniture? Many poor people are in need of useable furniture. So rather than trash it, here is a more honorable option: Dorothy, from St. Cronan's SVDP Conference has a ministry focused on providing furniture to Neighbors in Need throughout the city. 

If you are downsizing, upgrading, moving a parent into an assisted living facility or looking to repurpose furniture, just call Dorothy at 314-803-1858. Please allow for a 2 week window for pick-up.

Casseroles for the Hungry

How it works:

1. Casserole Program Coordinator (Mark Leifield, 314-520-2643, kyryra@aol.com) sends a letter to our Casserole Bakers the annual Schedule & Recipes
2. Bakers prepare the casseroles, freeze them at home, then bring to the “Little White Shed” (along-side the Parish Office opposite the Parish Hall) and place them in the freezer
3. Mark, along with other volunteers, deliver the casseroles weekly to the “Missionaries of Charity” in North St. Louis along with Sts. Alphonsus and Vincent DePaul parishes enabling them to feed the hungry.

Help the Missionaries of Charity, St. Alphonsus’ & St. Vincent DePaul’s Food Pantries continue their Mission of Serving the Poorest of the Poor!

Click here on how to get involved with Casserole Baking

Reach Out Program History

40+ Consecutive Years of Ascension Generosity!

The Reach Out Program was started at Ascension Chesterfield parish in Feb, 1983 by Kathy Massimino and has ministered to our less fortunate sisters and brothers on a continuous basis.  Its mission is: “To enable Ascension Parishioners a means of living the gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ”. Its purpose is: “To collect food (including Meal-a-Month), clothing and money on the third Sunday of each month for the less fortunate in St. Louis”.  Our two inner-city recipients are St. Vincent De Paul Parish, and the “Wilhelmina Hardin Food Pantry” at St. Alphonsus “Rock” Church.  Special collections include: Back-to-School (August); Homeless (October); Thanksgiving (November); Christmas (December). 

In 1987 the Casserole program was started and Ascension volunteers baked casseroles on a monthly basis and volunteer drivers delivered them to the Missionaries of Charity Nuns, located in North St. Louis, enabling them to carry out their mission of feeding the homeless and poor.  The program, under the leadership of Joann Barnes, continues to grow now with over 60 casserole bakers.

Our Christmas Collection originally started off with Ascension children hanging mittens on a “Giving Tree” that were then delivered to our recipient parishes.  This grew over the years and in the 1990’s St. Vincent’s and St. Alphonsus parishes began providing Christmas wish-lists from their parishioners in need. These were printed on labels and were put on ornaments made by our Girl Scouts then hung on “Giving Trees”.  Our parishioners selected ornaments off of the Giving Trees, purchased the indicated gifts which were delivered to our collaborator parishes on collection Sunday.  In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Christmas collection was changed again.  Banners were hung on the pillars at the rear of church with paper “Christmas Angel” ornaments made by our Girl Scouts each with a label containing the first names of members of entire families and of individuals in need.  Ascension parishioners took an ornament and purchased $25 gifts-cards (Walmart/Target) for each family member/individual.  The gift-cards were then collected by our volunteers on 2-collection weekends.  Each donor was given a small Christmas tree ornament (bell) with the first-name of a person in need attached and was asked to pray for that needy person.   In both 2020 and in 2021, we exceeded our goal of 1000, $25-gift-cards with the donated gift-cards along with the monetary donations demonstrating the overwhelming generosity of Ascension Parish!

“…Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.”