A crew of 106 migrant farm workers recently traveled from south Florida to King Ferry where they will live and work over the coming months harvesting fresh market sweet corn. There were many volunteers helping with all the preparations before the workers arrived.

On Thursday, July 19, they were greeted with cereal, milk and juice.

The next day, the workers were invited to Our Lady of the Lake Church, of the Good Sheperd Catholic Community, where they were offered an opportunity to select from the donated items the church has been collecting all year.

Many thanks to all the local churches and organizations that helped to collect these supplies for our seasonal neighbors.

Then Sunday morning, July 22, the Good Sheperd Catholic Community cooked and served a “Welcome Breakfast” at the migrant camp on Route 90.

Also in July, an educational program for the workers on HIV/STD's and eye safety was co-hosted by the Good Sheperd Catholic Community and Finger Lakes Migrant Health during which volunteers served a light dinner to participants.

They also participated in the 50-mile Route 90 Garage Sale near Our Lady of the Lake Church in King Ferry.

Special thanks to Debbie Patrick who works tirelessly on behalf of our local migrant farmworker community.

In other news:

€ The Lunches with Love summer feeding program for children at Holy Family Church in Auburn is going beautifully.

Summer lunches are served to local children during the Clothes Closet hours from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays and from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays.

Parents can shop for free clothing while children are given a meal by a very caring group of moms. I watched as they bent over and introduced themselves to the children, and with mom and dad's permission, tenderly took them by the hand to the gym for lunch.

The name suits them; there is a lot of love in these lunches.

€ Hurrah! The Holy Family Clothes Closet now has a clothing drop box located right next to the side entrance of the school. Donations can now be dropped off at any time, at your convenience. Many thanks to Ken Mooney and Clint Allen for building this much needed addition for the Clothes Closet. They did a beautiful job on it.

€ Sunday, Aug. 26, the Holy Family Parish Picnic will be held at the Auburn Correctional Facility Recreational Center on Franklin Street. Our celebration begins with Mass to be held at the center at 11:15 a.m. Following will be a picnic with hamburgers, hot dogs, rolls, drinks and paper products supplied by the Parish Life Committee.

Each family brings a dish to pass, and there is always enough food and dessert to feed a small army.

In addition, look forward to some great raffles and games for children and grown-ups too. Special thanks to Bill and Sandy Tonzi for all their hard work in organizing the picnic and making it possible.

€ This weekend Holy Family is collecting back to school supplies for the Cayuga Seneca County Action Program.

I know it seems as though summer just began, but we have to start thinking about back to school. But I do love the hint of autumn in the air this week.

Have a good week everyone and please send me your good news. Remember, God loves you so much.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

- Ambrose Redmoon

Denise Bennett is a parishioner at Holy Family Church in Auburn. She can be reached at deniseb132@yahoo.com