Mukonchi Mission Fundraiser - Informational Flyers Coming Soon

So LP and I spent some time this weekend working on the flyers for the fundraiser. It was slow going, but then we hit on some brilliance and we'll unveil the new flyer tomorrow, if not even tonight.

The idea will be that you can send the flyer to people by email and even if they can't come they may be willing to contribute to the cause. We will also print out a limited amount of flyers for our "street ops" to hand out to friends and acquaintances.

AP is trying to contact Fr. Zbroszczyk in Mukonchi to get us the details on what the mission's greatest needs are right now.

In the Works: October 25th Fundraiser for Mukonchi

We will be selling tickets for a fundraiser in Alexandria, Virginia.

This will be happening on Saturday October 25th from 1-7pm.

There are still some things to settle - like a catchy title - you can vote on that over to the right.

You'll also notice that we will only have a limited amount of tickets available for this event, hence the Ticket Counter addition.

More information is coming oh so soon!

Donations and Volunteers Needed

Since we're busy at the moment with the Mukonchi fundraiser we thought we'd at least post some information from the Christ House website:

Located at:
131 S. West Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
703-549-8644 (shelter)

Christ House needs items for holiday food baskets for the needy on Christmas and Giant or Safeway food certificates for elderly clients.

Donations needed:
• items for bagged lunches (pre-sliced packaged lunchmeats, individual fruit cups, 8-oz bottles of water, presliced packaged cheese, sandwich bags, lunch bags, peanut butter, jelly, and large cans of tuna fish)
• canned meats • canned vegetables • tuna • cereal • pasta • instant potatoes • Mac & cheese kits • laundry hampers • small trashcans • bars of soap • toothbrushes • toothpaste • razors for shaving • shaving cream • hairbrushes • deodorant (preferably bar) • shampoo • Giant & Safeway food certificates ($10)

drop off Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

More volunteers are needed for the following services:

Thrift Shop - Daily, 11 AM-3PM
Help manage the thrift shop operations and assist manager with donations, sales, sorting, and other duties.
Food Pantry
Work can be scheduled for daytime, evenings and weekends. Help sort donated food items to help keep the pantry organized and current.
Soup Kitchen
Work with various volunteer groups in the afternoon and evening to help prepare and serve the evening meal or help with clean up (there is an automatic dishwasher).

Christ House Soup Kitchen & Shelter

This is another project that we are trying to take up.
LP knows more about it.

This is from their website:

Founded in 1973, Christ House provides food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, and clothing to those in need. Christ House helps individuals recognize their abilities, develop self-sufficiency, and maintain their self-respect. It offers limited assistance to individuals needing help to
pay their rent, utility bills, prescription bills, and other expenses.

Food
The program provides over 18,000 meals in a year's time. Volunteers of various churches, civic and social organizations prepare and serve the daily evening meal. An average of 50-65 people eat at Christ House each evening.

Shelter
Christ House offers transitional housing to the homeless. Its recently renovated facilities afford a safe, clean, and welcoming environment to single men in need of a place to stay while they improve their lives. Christ House also provides shower and laundry facilities to residents.

Clothing
Christ House operates a thrift shop seven days a week from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Items are inexpensive; if an individual is unable to pay, there is no charge. The Thrift Shop welcomes donations of clothing and shoes but is not accepting donations of furniture at the present time.

Emergency Assistance
Catholic Charities' emergency assistance program provides limited financial assistance to needy individuals for payment of rent, utility bills, prescription charges, and other expenses.

Volunteers
More than sixteen hundred volunteers contribute time and talent to the important work of Christ House. Many help with preparing and serving the evening meals, and some help by painting, cleaning windows and rugs, and washing dishes. Numerous volunteers assist during Christmas, Thanksgiving and other special times.

About Mukonchi Mission

In Zambia schooling is mandatory, but in the bush more than 50% of the children don’t benefit from this law. There are many different reasons for this. A great percentage of the children do not have one or both parents. Often a child cannot go to school because the parent cannot afford to buy shoes, a uniform, or school supplies. It also happens that the children don’t go to school because of the great distance between the school and where they live. Some children walk about 3 to 4 miles to school and the same distance back.Mukonchi Mission belongs to the Archdiocese of Lusaka and is located about 124 miles to the north-east of the capital, Lusaka , in the African bush. The closest town, Kabwe, post office or hospital is 31 miles away, by dirt road. The mission is run by Father Grzegorz Zbroszczyk and the beginnings of the mission reach back to 1998.

Mukonchi Mission Serves the Community:

Preschool/Daycare
Mukonchi Mission has a pre-school/daycare for 5-7 year-old orphans, half-orphans and children from the poorest families.

Mukonchi Youth Center
Courses taught in carpentry, blacksmith and tailoring for young adults, promoting self-sufficiency.

Home Based Care
Care and support for people with HIV/AIDS. Individuals receive medical assistance as well as care by volunteers.

-Mukonchi Mission Information provided by Fr. Grzegorz Zbroszczyk