Outreach + Service

St. Charles Borromeo Parish provides rent and utility assistance, food, furniture, clothing, and other life-sustaining goods and services for the poor living in Kettering and Centerville, OH. Volunteer case managers who are members of the St. Charles Borromeo Parish community perform home visits and provide needs-driven solutions to help break the cycle of poverty. Neighbor Outreach also provides high-quality sack lunches for the area St. Vincent de Paul Gateway Homeless Shelters each month.

The volunteers work together to assemble and pack to provide needed food and nutrition to the homeless shelters. To learn more about this outreach, contact Elizabeth Lush 937-434-6081

Each parish has their own Knights of Columbus group.

Ascension Knights Website

St. Charles Knights Website/Facebook

St. Albert the Great Knights Website

Ascension: Grand Knight, Paul Larochelle– kofc14891@gmail.com Phone # - 937-231-8156

Ascension Ladies Auxiliary: Cathy Heuing - cheuing@woh.rr.com

The mission of the Mother of God Family of Parishes Social Action Committee is to educate parishioners on social justice issues in our community, in our nation and in our world, and to organize and initiate actions to implement the social justice doctrines of the Catholic Church. The social action committee helps facilitate the respect life initiative and many others.

The following are examples of activities: Lenten Almsgiving Project, Summer Lunch Program, Peace Pole, Prayer Ministry, Sustainability projects, work with other Dayton area parishes, Food Barrels, SPUR and LIGHT articles, “Thrive Together” dinners, Homicide Prayer Vigils and opportunities that arise.

Want to be involved? Contact any MGFP parish office.

Each Parish has it’s own St. Vincent division. St. Vincent’s Feed the Hungry Casseroles are delivered to the church on the second Sunday of each month, frozen, between 8-10:45 a.m. We are also collecting one-pound cans of vegetables, bags of apples, oranges, and carrot/celery sticks washed and cut up, ready to serve.

These meals are delivered to St. Vincent Hotel for the Homeless.

Feed the Hungry (at Ascension)

Casserole pans are available in the Narthex to provide a meal for our neighbors at the St. Vincent shelters. Instructions are with each pan.  Pick up pans: August 2-3.  Pans due by: August 22.  (Deliver frozen meals either to the Witzman Center or drop off in the parish office by Noon on August 22.)

St. Albert the Great is in the 36th year of the monthly food collection serving the Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley (CSSMV) Choice Food Pantry in downtown Dayton.

We collect shelf-stable food items on the week-end of the second Sunday of each month. Gray collection barrels will be outside the south entrances to St. Albert Church at the Saturday vigil and Sunday Masses on this week-end. There is also a Barrel inside the Gathering Space for drop off at other times during the month.

PLEASE NOTE: The collection schedule reflects the pantry’s current needs but all shelf stable food (pull-top cans if possible) are always welcome. The current ask is for high protein items (meat, fish, or beans), canned fruit and vegetables, and hygiene items.

HYGIENE ITEMS ARE CRITICALLY NEEDED EACH MONTH

Bar Soap, Body Wash, Shampoo, Deodorant, Single Toothbrushes,

Toothpaste, Feminine Products, Diapers (especially size 4,5,6),

Baby Wipes, Toilet Paper, Small Detergent bottles, & Dishsoap

July 12-13 – Cereal, all including name-brand, Peanut Butter, Canned beans, Toilet paper, & Feminine Products

August 9-10 – Canned Fish and Chicken, Pasta and Rice, Canned Pasta Sauce, Canned Vegetables/Fruit (pull-top if possible), Diapers

September 13-14 – Peanut Butter, Jelly/Jam(in plastic containers), Hygiene (soap, shampoo, body wash, tooth products, and deodorant), Baby Formula (Similac with Iron), Baby Food

October 11-12 – Mac & Cheese, Canned Chicken and Tuna, Chicken & Tuna Packets, Pasta/Rice, Canned Pasta Sauce, Diapers

November 8-9 – Peanut Butter, Jelly/Jam (plastic containers), Cereal, incl Oatmeal Packets, Canned Soups or Stews, Toilet Paper

December 13-14 – Canned Meats and Fish, Canned Vegetables including Beans, Greens, Sweet Potato, Tomato, Canned Fruit, Mac and Cheese, Feminine Products, Diapers

Thank you for your continuing support and generosity.

Contact: Julie Burt 937-409-6035

The St. Charles Diakonia Fund, which was established over 50 years ago, provides money for our in-house social service ministries. The fund also supports Christian based non-profit organizations in our area that are well suited to serving social needs in a highly focused and efficient way. These organizations include Elisabeth’s New Life Center, Good Shepherd Ministries, St. Vincent DePaul, Hope Emergency Program, House of Bread, the Kettering Backpack Program, and Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley.  With the hard work of many volunteers, St. Charles’s social justice organizations are able to provide many services to the poor. 100% of the donations that we receive into our Diakonia fund directly support human needs in the Miami Valley.

Get involved by contacting the St. Charles parish office.

Have a heart for kids or youth? Fill out this volunteer form here.

St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) is part of an international Christian community founded in Paris in 1833. SVDP is committed to offering emergency assistance with utilities, clothing, furniture and other services to our neighbors in need. Our conference for the most part covers the parish boundaries.

Our mission is to bear witness to Christ and His Church by assisting families materially and spiritually on a person-to-person basis.

Our ministry includes:

• Home visitation to those in need.

• Helping with household expenses as needed (gas, electric, water, rent, and other needs).

Our conference is one of over 30 in the Dayton District Council. Our conference members are called Vincentians and we meet on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month at 7:00 PM at the parish office. Meetings are about one hour long and focus on the spirituality of our ministry and discussions of current and planned programs along with the disbursement of our financial help to those in need.

New members are always welcome. We are always seeking additional volunteers. We have many capacities that help us serve our neighbors. We emphasize assisting others with dignity and promoting self-sufficiency whenever possible. We will provide training and plenty of time for you to discern whether the Spirit is calling you to our ministry.

If you are interested, please leave a message on our Help Line at 937-253-5171 x106 and one of our members will respond to your call.

For those who need assistance, please contact the St. Vincent Conference at Ascension, 937-253-5171 x106, and leave a detailed message with your name, complete address including zip code, a contact number where you can be reached along with your need.

Go here to read the quarterly summary.

Serving Kettering & East Dayton zip codes: 45419, 45420, and 45429

1921 Woodman Drive
Kettering, OH 45420

OPERATING HOURS:

Monday: 4:30-5:30 PM
Wednesday: 5:30-6:30 PM
Saturday: 10:00-11:00 AM

The Neighbor-to-Neighbor food pantry, located next door at Greenmont Oak Park Community Church, serves food to anyone in need provided they live in zip codes 45419, 45420, or 45429, or if they are a registered member of Ascension or Greenmont Church.

At every visit, each client must bring a drivers license/ID and a recent utility bill (or mail as proof of address) for every adult in the household.

The pantry is well-stocked with food items courtesy of the Montgomery County Food Bank (government subsidized) and from funds received from the Meijer Simply Give project. These funds, however, may only be used to purchase food. The rest is donated by Kettering churches, schools, private groups, and individuals. Ascension and Greenmont members have been assisting in the pantry for many years through monthly food collections, annual holiday basket distributions, and service to pantry clients during operating hours. 

Neighbor-to-Neighbor food pantry collections at Ascension are typically held on the second or third weekend of each month.

Donation items needed are the following:

• Personal care items: Bar soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes

• Non-food necessities: Dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, paper towels, toilet tissue

Please leave donations in the large blue containers that will be at each of the entrance doors.

THANK YOU for continuing to help our neighbors in need!

Twinning activities have created relationships between Ascension, Nuestra Senora De La Luz in Lima, Peru, as well as Dayton Catholic Hispanic community with mutual collaboration for events within each of our communities. The Latino Fiesta held each year is also an event sponsored by the group. Through the process of twinning, Ascension parishioners have gained a broader view and understanding of the cultural diversity in our Catholic Church. The date of the meeting varies according to the availability of the members.

Steve Mueller ………. 937-299-8035 (smueller1@udayton.edu)

Lois Keil ………. 937-299-0257 (lakeil67@aol.com)