Dear Parish Family,

Happy Thanksgiving! We are in the season of gratitude where we become thankful for all the blessings God has given us, even the challenging ones that cause us to grow spiritually in our relationship with Christ and others. In a special way, I am grateful for your generosity and the stewardship of so many parishioners who call our parish home. Whether it's supporting one of our parish ministries, giving to a capital campaign or project, or contributing to regular offertory to cover our operating expenses, please know that the ministry and mission of Christ could not happen here without your support. THANK YOU!

#WeGiveCatholic Early Giving Day - Sunday Nov 19
Early giving starts TODAY to invest in our St. Mary School teachers! Every donation supports initiatives requested by our teachers, including providing them with new laptops and upgrading the desks and chairs in our upper elementary classrooms. Help us reach our $25,000 campaign goal and let our teachers know we love them and support their ministry to our young disciples. Visithttps://www.wegivecatholic.org/organization/St-Mary-Chardon and to donate starting this Sunday, November 19, or drop off cash or check marked "WeGiveCatholic" to the parish office or in the drop box.

World Day of Prevention of Child Exploitation
Saturday, November 18 is the World Day of Prevention of Child Exploitation. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to be passionate in our protection of the dignity of all persons, especially for children. We pray for those who have suffered any and all forms of abuse as we recommit ourselves to be vigilant in our oversight and protection of those who are most vulnerable in our society. The Church has made great strides in the past few decades to make our parish and school campuses safe environments for our children's learning and growth by requiring background checks and VIRTUS training and compliance for all employees and volunteers who work with children, and offering the Called to Protect program for youth, parents and families in our youth faith formation programs. I encourage you to visit the Diocese of Cleveland Child Protection page to learn more about the various ways we are committed to protecting our children: https://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/offices/parish-life/child-protection.

Sound System, Livestream, and Church Bells Upgrade
We will be looking to upgrade our church sound system, livestream technology, and church bells system this coming year. Many of you have noted that there are places in the church where it is hard to hear, and a new sound system will address and fix these dead zones and inconsistencies. Moreover, new livestream technology is available that will enhance the quality of the livestream, simplify the camera operation for the livestream operators, and allow us to add livestream capabilities to the Banquet Room to capture significant events and presentations that happen there. Last but not least, the software our church bells runs on needs to be replaced so our bells continue to ring out consistently throughout the year. We will need assistance fundraising for these important church initiatives. If you are interested in supporting this project financially, please reach out to me. I would be happy to go into more detail with you and show you what we're looking to do and the anticipated costs involved.

Thanksgiving Day Mass, Traffic Delays, Office Closures
Start your Thanksgiving morning with Mass here this Thursday at 9:00 am. Please remember that the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot starts at 8:30 am, so routes to the church from the Square and 5th Avenue will be blocked. See attached map for route blocks and plan your travels to church accordingly. Keep in mind the parish office will close early this Wednesday (4 pm) and is closed Thursday and Friday this week. I wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving!
Turkey Trot 2023