Our Recent Activities

                               Congratulations,  

Reverend Monsignor Richard M. Zborowski!

               February Activities

The Auxiliary participated in all night Eucharistic Adoration on the 5th, and assisted with the Spaghtetti Dinner on the 6th.  The guest speaker for February is a representative of the Appalachia Service Project from St. Thomas of Villanova followed by an appetizer social and will be held at the Alexian Brothers Medical Building on Salt Creek Drive in Arlington Hts. They continue to seek advertisers and recipes for the cookbook. Auxiliary members Mary Powers, Barbara Simeo and Juli Tragasz met with Pastry Chef Gale Gand (previous Food Network star)to pick up an autographed chef coat she donated to the auxiliary, as well as one of her signature dessert recipes for the upcoming cookbook. The chef coat will be one of the prizes raffled off just prior to Christmas.  Each cookbook will contain a free raffle ticket.  Other chefs, sports figures, movie stars,musicians etc. also contributed recipes to the cookbook committee for inclusion in the cookbook.

           January Activities

The Auxiliary held a SOUPer Bowl Fundraising Luncheon/ Dinner on Sunday Jan 10 at St. Theresa Church in the lower Dolan Center. Surplus deserts etc. were donated to the four fire stations in Palatine and to St. Joseph's Home for the Elderly. The Auxiliary donated baked goods to the St. Theresa Welcoming Committee to use for serving in the Gathering Space on Welcoming Sunday which was also held on the 10th. The January meeting, held at St. Theresa, was a lively appetizer pot-luck and White Elephant gift exchange.  Weekly donations of bread from Panera to St. Joseph's Home for the Aged, the Carmelite Monastery, Miles Jesu, St. Theresa, St. Thomas food Pantry and  Catholic Chairities continued throughout the month. Monetary donations were made to Monsignor Richard Zborowski/ St. Theresa Church, The Little Sisters of The Poor, Rest in His Arms, Prenatal Partners for Life, Woman's Choice Services and to the Catholic Medical Mission Board for Haitian relief. Auxiliary members spent the last two months collecting recipes for our upcoming cookbook, including many VIP recipes. Those wishing to submit recipes should contact the auxiliary at: holyghostauxiliary@gmail.com.

               December Activities

Donations of cases of  personal care items and linens from Kevin Gildemeister were brought to the Auxiliary and then delivered by Auxiliary members Tina Mc Gill and Juli Tragasz to St. Joseph's Home for the Aged, the Carmelite Monastery and Miles Jesu. The joint KC/Ladies Auxiliary Christmas Party was held on Saturday Dec. 5th at St. Theresa in the Lower Dolan Center. Cake Decorating was held earlier in the day on the 5th,  and auxiliary members assisted the KC with the Children's Christmas Party on the 6th. Kevin Gildemeister also donated a case of candy to the Auxiliary for use at the Knights of Columbus Children's Christmas party as well as mints for the celebration honoring Monsignor Zborowski. The Ladies Auxiliary served as greeters and hostesses at the celebration for Reverend Monsignor Richard Zborowki on the 13th  A very successful Auxiliary Christmas bake sale, organized by Mary Lou Arns, was held on the 19 and 20. The winners of the raffles were: Lois Butler- the edible winter scene and Angel Reyes- the teddy bear with restaurant gift certificates. All unsold baked goods were donated to St. Joseph's Home for the Aged. and were delivered by Auxiliary and KC members. The Auxiliary, working with the St. Vincent dePaul Society adopted a family of 10 for Christmas and provided gifts for all family members as well as a meal. Extra items were donated to the Society for distribution to other families. Weekly donations of Panera bread were delivered to St. Thomas of Villanova food pantry, St. Joseph's Home for the aged, St. Theresa, the Carmelite Monastery and Catholic Charities.

                November Activities

Auxiliary Trustee, Barb Simeo, organized workers for the 2009 PLMA (Private Label Manufacturer's Association) trade show/food drive on Nov 17, 18, 19, and 20th.  With the assistance of Auxiliary members: Gen Baur, Nicole Miller and Becky Murzyn as well as Knights of Columbus they worked side by side with members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society who work annually on the drive.  Tuesday at the Donald E. Stevens convention center in Rosemont they gathered non-perishable food and other items at the conclusion of the trade show. They collected, sorted boxed and loaded 5 semi-trucks with the items collected.  S.V.D.P. distributes the items to the food pantries of St. Thomas of Villanova church and Holy Family church, in addition to PHD. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday they worked at the Pack Rat warehouse/storage facility in Gurnee, Illinois to further sort items by categories.  Afterward, orders were filled and set aside for 25 or more groups to pick up the pallets of boxed items for distribution to their food pantries. Auxiliary members donated baked goods to the St. Theresa Women' Club bake sale.
 
 
The guest speaker at the November meeting was Jenny Barr, a firefighter/paramedic from Itasca Fire department who spoke about the "File for Life" program.  Jenny is the daughter of LA member Gen Baur and KC Jim Baur.  Food was collected from the members to assemble three Thanksgiving baskets for needy families at St. Thomas of Villanova, St. Theresa and Immaculate Conception parishes. The baskets were delivered to the parishes on the Monday prior to Thanksgiving.  Loaves of bread donated by Panera bread were picked up by Auxiliary members and also were added to the Thanksgiving baskets.

              Donations to Active Military 

Cases of Beef Jerky donated  to the Auxiliary by Auxiliary member Gen Baur and husband Jim (KC)  were delivered to Palatine Township Trustee Sharon Johnson who works with The Yellow Ribbon Campaign. The beef will be added to care packs for the armed forces in  Afghanistan and Iraq. Sharons husband, Palatine Police Officer Patrick, just returned from serving in Afghanstan and described the beef jerky as a soldiers "prized possession".

                      October Activities

The Monthly meeting was held at St. Theresa Church and included a "pound auction" and pot -luck dinner.  Members signed up to bring non-perishable food items to the November meeting to be placed in "Thanksgiving Baskets" for the needy from St. Theresa, St. Thomas of Villanova and Immaculate Conception parishes.  Auxiliary Treasurer, Denise Ciciora  served as auctioneer, and was assisted by Auxiliary VP Mary Lou Arns.  See photo gallery.  

                        Tootsie Roll Drive

The Ladies Auxiliary assisted the Holy Ghost Council Knights with the Tootsie Roll Drive the weekend of Sept. 18-20 to raise funds for local agencies that assist the disabled.

 Weekly donations of bread to local charities

The HG Ladies Auxiliary has joined forces with Panera Bread of Deer Park to help those in need. Auxiliary members Nicole & Mary Zermatten started collecting donations of bread from Panera Bread which were then delivered by Auxiliary member Linda Farley to the Carmelite Monastery in Des Plaines. Now the deliveries have expanded and  Auxiliary members deliver  baked goods, donated by Panera, to various charities. The baked goods are picked up  several times each week and delivered to: the  St. Thomas Food Pantry, the Carmelite Monastery, St. Theresa, Catholic Charities, The St. Vincent de Paul Society and Miles Jesu.  Members are encouraged to show their support and appreciation to Panera. 

 September  Activites and Donations

Auxiliary members and guests enjoyed a tour of the Alexian Brothers Archives/Museum,a presentation by Fourth Degree KC Chris Galiardo about the Church in the Middle East,  and an atrium social hour with Mimosa's and appetizers at the September Meeting held in Arlington Heights.    The Auxiliary donated a grill and gift basket full of grill accessories to the Countryside Association for People with disabilities for their silent auction scheduled for October. The Auxiliary sponsored a booth at the Jaycees garage sale in downtown Palatine on Aug. 12. Items not sold at the garage sale were donated to the Palatine Public Library and to Misericordia. The Auxiliary supported the Bishop Abramovich Seminary by placing an ad in the program for their recent fundraising dinner in Chicago.  Holy Ghost Ladies and Knights were present at the dinner.   St. Theresa Pastor Monsignor Richard Zborowski, and Ron Tragasz both Holy Ghost Knights, and former St. Theresa Associate pastor, Monsignor Merek Kasperczuk serve on the Seminary board. See current photo gallery for pictures of these event.      

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