St. Anthony Ministry Year In Review

Father Luis, Father Austin, SAMN Director Maria Sotomayor, and the dedicated team of volunteers would like to say THANK YOU for your continued donations, time, and prayers in support of the St Anthony Ministry to the Needy hear at DMP.  We can only help others with your help!
The St Anthony Ministry to the Needy here at Divine Mercy Parish is a Catholic lay ministry inspired by Gospel values.   SAMN, as we call it, leads men and women to join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person services to the needy and suffering.   Below is a review of the SAMN ministry in 2025 and recent years.

1. Food Pantry - Open on Wednesdays from 1pm to 3pm in the Parish Community Center.
   • Provided 576 bags of groceries to over 100 families from donations made to the SAMN Food Basket in the Narthex.
   • Delivery was provided to over 50 families in need throughout the year.
2. SAMN Financial Assistance Phone Line
   • SAMN volunteers evaluated and approved 276 requests for assistance totaling over $100K.
   • The most common request for help was with Entergy bills.
   • The average assistance paid to help was $323.
   • Assistance was provided with utilities and other special requests.
   • All requests were reviewed by the SAMN team and submitted to Father Luis or Father Austin for approval.
3. Thanksgiving Food Baskets
   • With the support of St Elizabeth Ann Seton School and the parish, we were able to provide 100 boxes of food and a $25 gift card to needy families for Thanksgiving ($2500).
4. Christmas Angel Tree
   • With the support of parishioners, we were able to bring Christmas joy, smiles, gifts, popcorn, and cookies to 150 children and 60 families during the 2025 Christmas Season.
5. Sharing Easter Joy
   • Provided a $25 gift card and box of food to 50 families ($1250).
6. Magic Yarn Project
   • For 4 years, SAMN has led this Lenten Service Project and came together as a community to wrap yarn for The Magic Yarn Project, a non-profit organization that provides crafty wigs to children who are sick.  In 2025, parishioners were able to wrap 1300 skeins of yarn.  Donations of $7000 were collected to offset the cost of the service project.   Thanks to the generosity and devotion of parishioners who spent hundreds of hours wrapping yarn,  we helped to deliver 1300 smiles around the world to hundreds of sick children.  

We offer our sincere gratitude for your faithful generosity, your prayers, and your continued support of our parish. Your stewardship allows us to carry out Christ’s mission, serve those in need, and nurture our parish community today and tomorrow.  As we look ahead, we humbly ask you to prayerfully consider a renewed and ongoing financial commitment, according to your means, so that together we may continue to grow in faith, hope, and love.  In 2025, SAMN donations from Parishioners was $30K below the amount that was paid to help the needy, or about $2500 a month.  Thank you for walking with us and for all that you do for our parish community.