As a sacrifice of praise the people of St. Bartholomew --an African American Catholic Parish and St. Joan of Arc --a Latino and White American parish came together in 2009 to form the new parish of St. Josephine Bakhita Catholic Parish in Camden New Jersey. We have two churches, three cultural families –White, Black and Latino. We welcome people of every race, language and way of life around the table of our Lord Jesus Christ in an American African/Hispanic expression of Roman Catholic worship. Through acts of justice we proclaim the “Joy of the Gospel” by sharing our time, talent and treasures; with and for the people of Camden NJ. One way we share our time is through The Soul of Camden, Inc. a 501 (c) (3), nonprofit, faith based community development organization founded by members of Bergen Square Community. The organization uses the facilities of St. Bartholomew Church. Although the Soul of Camden, Inc., was incorporated in 2006, St. Bartholomew’s has always served the community by sponsoring various youth programs, holiday “food baskets” and non-perishable food items to families in need throughout the community year round. The mission of the Soul of Camden, Inc., is to create, generate and maintain an investment in human capital by providing information, activities and programs that encourage positive moral, values and responsible citizenship.In keeping with its tradition of service to the community, members of the St. Bartholomew Church decided to bring all their community resources together and incorporate their activities under the Soul of Camden, Inc.,(SOC). The SOC currently provides the following community services:• The Soup Kitchen • After-school Enrichment Program• Family Traditions is a youth mentoring and family recreation program which sponsors a monthly cooking class and leisure activities. • Summer Encouragement Program provides mentoring, recreation, and education enrichment activities for youth ages 6 to 14 throughout the city of Camden during the summer months• The Creative Arts provides opportunity to the children to perform their talents of acting, singing, dancing, playing an instrument, and other activities. • The Turnaround Program is an effective mentoring for At-Risk youth, which provides a series of follow-up sessions that give clear understanding of how youth can transform their lives by using their minds as a positive tool – rather than a tool of self-destruction. One-on-One sessions will be effective in data gathering to reinforce the goals.During the week of December 7th we were blessed with unusually warm weather. Indeed this was a blessing since the boiler at St. Bartholomew church was not working and needed to be replaced. After consultation with the Finance Council, Pastoral Councils and council of Los Servidores we decided to use funds from our savings to pay for the boiler. By doing this we eliminated interests payments and additional costs and we were able to replace the boiler sooner rather than later.Now we have depleted our savings and need to replace those funds .We have begun a four month campaign to raise $24,000.00 to replace those funds. We are asking you to make a pledge to be fulfilled in four months.
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