Guns to Gardens | Saturday April 13  

Guns to Gardens is a community of faith working to reduce gun violence across the nation and in the Denver Metro area by dismantling guns and forging the parts into life-giving tools.  

With over 400 million guns in American homes, many of these guns are no longer wanted for a range of reasons. Guns to Gardens safe surrender events provide a way to dispose of unwanted guns without returning them to the gun marketplace, where they could be used for future harm. 

Gun owners are invited to safely surrender their unwanted, unloaded guns at Guns to Gardens events. The guns are dismantled by trained volunteers. Then, the leftover metal pieces are transformed into garden tools, artwork, or other life-giving materials. These materials are then given back to the community or sold to continue to fund the work. 

The next local firearm safe surrender event is Saturday April 13 from 10am-12pm at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church. More information can be found: https://tinyurl.com/Guns2GardensApril13 or in the flyers in the back of church.  

Questions: gunstogardensmetrodenver@gmail.com   

Pads 4 Dignity | Helping Women in Need at Bienvenidos Food Bank 

A few weeks back, Carol Holly, a Holy Family parishioner, approached me with a need and a way to meet this need. There is a crisis for women in poverty of not having feminine hygiene products available. This situation is universal and is known as, “Period Poverty”. It is an alarming problem for those who are on the margins, especially our newcomers. Every woman should have the right to the dignity of having products they need each month. Following is a letter from Carol asking for your help.  

I am fairly new to Denver and I began volunteering at Bienvenidos Food Bank last fall after reading about it in the church bulletin.  It’s only open to guests 1 day a week on Thursdays and I was immediately impressed by the loving and kind ambiance of the place, and also by the commitment of the staff and volunteers to making the guests feel truly welcomed.  Nice folks helping nice folks. 

Just a few weeks ago I noticed that feminine hygiene products were not being distributed freely because the food bank has no resource for them;  they come in hit or miss, as donations.  When they are available, women are being made to choose between them and a food product.  That seemed wrong to me and I wondered if Holy Family Parish might be their resource, at least for a time?   

“The Ask” would have two components: 

• Bring in 1 pkg of pads per week (or less often, whatever works for you) 
• Volunteers to help repackage pads into baggies of 18-count. (This is the established average number of pads women use each month.) 

We see so many families with huge challenges – this is one small thing we could do to help to lessen the stress.  If you have questions please contact me, hollycar@gmail.com.  Thank you in advance for caring!        ~Carol Holly, Holy Family Parishioner 

Thank – you Carol for stepping up and ensuring all women have the dignity they deserve each month. We will be collecting feminine pads in the bin in the back of church. Additional information and data on “period poverty”: https://allianceforperiodsupplies.org/period-poverty/ 

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month 

Child abuse and neglect are common. At least 1 in 7 children have experienced child abuse or neglect in the past year in the United States. Bright blue pinwheels are a symbol of child abuse prevention awareness across the nation. Ralston House, a metro Denver area non-profit,  helps child victims heal from abuse.  Their Child Advocacy Center works with the community to provide a safe place to investigate child abuse and ensure victim services for children who have been physically or sexually abused or witnessed violence.  

We are partnering with Ralston House by planting a  garden of pinwheels on campus during the month of April to serve as a beacon of hope for the children and youth in our community.  Please feel free to take a pinwheel and plant it in your yard as a sign of support and solidarity. Link here for more information on Ralston House or make a donation: https://www.ralstonhouse.org/.  

Child Abuse Hotline:  1-844-CO-4-KIDS