St. Joseph Garden City 2026 Lenten Project (Guest Blog) - 07/28/2026

Guest Blog
St. Joseph Parish Lenten Project 2026

Written by Anna Sirianni, Parish Social Ministry Director
The Church of St. Joseph
Garden City, NY

Every year St. Joseph Church organizes a parish Lenten Project to benefit a local, national or international program or charity which meets a particular need.  We have supported the construction of wells in Africa, a Long Island foundation which helps families of pediatric oncology patients, a Nassau County residential program for victims of human trafficking, a high school in Puerto Rico looking to rebuild after Hurricane Maria, and a maternity hospital in Bethlehem, among others.

We promote the project during the six weeks of Lent through bulletin articles, announcements and media displays.  We keep parishioners informed about donation totals and encourage their participation in the project as part of their Lenten almsgiving.  And we organize a “Speakers’ Weekend” when representatives of the program come to talk about their work at all of the Masses.

This past Lent we were very fortunate to have Jean Kelly come and tell us about the Mary Brennan INN and its impact on the lives of the guests who are served.  Jean reminded us about the role that St Joseph’s played in the early days of The INN, when the pastor encouraged parishioners at that time to get involved. We were thrilled to hear about this history!  And to come full circle, several of our current parishioners who are INN volunteers today also spoke about their commitment to The INN, and the impact that the work has had on their lives.

It is always amazing to learn about the good work that people are doing in the world to bring about positive change and to provide hope to others.  This year, St Joseph Church, through its 2026 Parish Lenten Project, had the privilege of offering support to the Mary Brennan INN soup kitchen and participating in their mission to ‘serve Dignity, Respect and Love’ to all who come through their doors.  Thank you for giving us this opportunity.

 

Note from The INN: The successful 2026 Lenten project raised $32,415! We are so grateful for the generosity of everyone at St. Joseph’s.

Left to Right: INN Board Member Rob Kammerer, St. Joseph Parishioners Carol Vallely, Anna Sirianni (Parish Social Ministry Director), INN Board member Vicki Ferrara and INN volunteer and St. Joseph Parishioner Pat Carle. Missing from the photo are Maria and Patrick Ward.

If you would prefer to write a check for your donation please make your check payable to The INN. Our mailing address is 211 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, NY 11550.