Dear Parishioners:
It seems like spring has finally sprung! Warmer weather and the long awaited sunshine have arrived. The plants and flowers around the parish grounds are flowering. In the next weeks we hope to remove any that didn’t fully survive the harsh winter. Also you have most likely noticed the sidewalks buckling up around the Church. We are waiting to see how they settle back during the warmer weather and then hope to fix them. They have been painted so you might see the raised sidewalks and cones placed where the walkway immediately in front of Church has slightly raised. So please be cautious when walking around the property. 
Spring has indeed sprung and this Friday we have our most important fundraiser for Our Lady of Mercy School, the Spring Fling! This annual event raises critical funds for the operation of our school. Our tuition only partly funds the schools annual budget of $2.5 million. The Spring Fling is crucial to keeping the school financially secure and flourishing. I sometimes encounter people who think that OLM School doesn’t need any financial help since its located in “affluent” East Greenwich. However, that is a total myth. There are many families in our school who make great sacrifices to ensure their children a first-class Catholic Education at OLM School.
Annually we grant tuition assistance to families and last year it totaled $75,000. Our fundraising for the school is crucial for such assistance and also to keep up with the rising cost of healthcare and utilities. It helps fund the proper maintenance and updating of the school. Our fine faculty do not receive large salaries but have a great commitment to providing a first-class Catholic Education and willingly make great sacrifices to serve the school. If you haven’t had a chance to support the Spring Fling and would like to make a donation to the event in support of OLM School, please contact me this week. We need the entire OLM Parish Community to support the great success of our parish school. I thank all those who support our school so generously at the Spring Fling and throughout the year.
Recently I received notes of thanks from the many organizations and agencies that we have supported with funds from OLM Outreach. These include the House of Hope in Warwick which benefits from the OLM Food Pantry. We also sent $1,000 at Easter to both Mary House Soup Kitchen at St. Patrick’s Church in Providence and McAuley House in Providence. We were able to make a donation of $3,000 to the Keep the Heat Fund run by the Diocese of Providence thanks to your generous support of the Outreach Collection. Monthly our Outreach Office provides rental assistance, utility assistance and food assistance to the many needy families in our own community of East Greenwich. It is your loyal and generous support of our Outreach efforts that makes this possible. Thank you!
I also wish to thank the parishioners who have donated to the Catholic Charity Appeal. We are nearing our parish goal of $193,000 but need every parish family to pledge their support in order to reach that goal. We have asked every parish family to consider a gift of $250 pledged over time. Thankfully 387 families have pledged thus far including many who have been very generous with their pledge. In order for the Appeal to succeed at OLM we need all of 2,200 of our parish families to pledge their support and make a donation. All of the proceeds of the CCA go directly to funding the many good works of our Church throughout the state. The Month of May arrives this week! Join us on Friday, May 1st for our First Friday OLM School Mass at 9:00AM and for Eucharistic Adoration throughout the day. The Month of May is busy with First Communion, Mother’s Day, and graduations. It is a month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary with Devotions every Monday of the month! They say that April showers bring May flowers! Enjoy the flowers! God Bless. Go Sox!