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5 Things You Can Do
Now!
1. Donate
Make a donation to the Idaho
Food Bank
www.idahofoodbank.org.
2. Organize
Organize a canned food drive for local families in need.
3. Shop
Responsibly
Buy Fair Trade/organic products.
4. Reuse
Instead of using disposable bottles of water and coffee cups, consider investing in a
reusable travel mug and
reusable drink bottle.
5. Learn
more about the issues:
Human Rights & Social Justice
Hunger & Food Supply
Investment Responsibility
Labor
Peace
& Nonviolence
Racism
Refugee Issues
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Activities & Actions
Peace &
Justice
Many of our Sisters, Oblates and friends of the
Monastery of St. Gertrude are involved in activities, actions and
ministries that include peace making and works of justice.
News &
Stories
Southside Food
Bank Volunteer
Sister Esther Velasquez, who is employed at
St. Joseph Family Center in Spokane, often works as a volunteer at the
Southside Food Bank on Saturdays. She is one of several volunteers who
interview those who come for food. Clients are asked what foods they
prefer not to receive, if anyone in the household has diabetes and the
ages of the children. She also asks if they have a prayer request and is
willing to hold hands and pray with them if they wish. Sr. Esther says
“I have seen many tears and shed a few myself as I pray. Praying with
the clients touches my heart as well as theirs.”
Some of the people who come to the food bank speak only Spanish and so
Sister Esther’s ability to communicate in Spanish is very useful. More
Spanish-speaking people are coming to the food bank after hearing that
someone there speaks their language.
The Southside Food Bank averages 60 to 70 families each Saturday but
there are days when more than 110 families come for help. “Getting to
know my neighbors and forming friendships with workers and clients alike
has been a blessing to me. This face-to-face contact with those in need
is a humbling experience.”
Monastery of St.
Gertrude Hosts Cycling for Change Team
On June 13, 2010, a 16 person team, 12 of whom
were riding bicycles, arrived at the Monastery of St. Gertrude for an
overnight stay. Starting that morning at Clarkston, Washington, they had
ridden 51 miles, most of it uphill. After dinner they gave a
presentation in the Spirit Center explaining what they were doing and
why.
Led by Fr. Matthew Ruhl, a Jesuit priest from Kansas City, this
dedicated team has undertaken a 5000 mile bicycle pilgrimage as a
dramatic way to challenge all people of goodwill to address the increase
of poverty in America. Their focus is the Catholic Charities USA
initiative for cutting poverty in half by the year 2020. The journey
began in Cape Flattery, Washington, on Memorial Day and will finish at
Key West, Florida on Labor Day. All along the route the riders will
promote the Campaign to Reduce Poverty by encouraging a collaborative
effort to address the root causes of poverty.
The Sisters were delighted to offer the cycling team meals and overnight
accommodations for one of the 100 days they would be on the road. For
more information go to
www.cyclersforchange.org.
Sister Elisa Martinez, Service and Justice at Soledad Enrichment Agency
Winter 2010 Canticle
For the past 23 years, Sister Elisa Martinez, from St. Gertrude’s, has
been involved with Soledad Enrichment Agency (SEA) in Los Angeles, whose
mission is to provide high-risk youth and their families with
alternatives to gangs, drugs and violence.
Read More...
Spirit Center Hosts Poverty Summit
November 14, 2009
Forty-two leaders representing twenty-four organizations attended The
Center for Community Building to End Poverty’s Leadership to End Poverty
Summit, November 12-13, 2009 at Spirit Center.
Read More...
Sisters Receive Kessler-Keener Award
May 6, 2008
The Benedictine Sisters of the Monastery of St. Gertrude were
recipients
of the Idaho Extraordinary Witness Award 2008
presented by the
Kessler-Keener Lecture Series on May 1, 2008
at the Cathedral of the
Rockies in Boise, ID. This award honors an
individual or group in Idaho
who has had a significant impact in the
area of human rights, peace and
justice.
Read More...
“Finding the
Center” Human Rights Conference at The University of Idaho in Moscow
April 15, 2007
Three
delegates from the Monastery attended the Third Annual “Finding the Center”
Human Rights Conference at The University of Idaho in Moscow, April 12-14, 2007.
Sisters Carol Ann Wassmuth and Bernadette Stang and Novice Kim Marie Jordan
participated in the action-oriented conference, focused on “The Power of
Transformation.”
Read More...
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