Mission of Saint Joan of Arc

We are getting ready for planting season in our Community Garden of Mercy. Many people have helped us in this preparation stage. Rosa Arias worked hard to do the initial weed pulling in the beds. Scott Cantwell brought his tiller and plowed the beds to aerate them and get them ready for planting. He also obtained a wonderful donation of flowers from The Flower Station in Huntington Valley for the flower beds. Himself and Susana Sanchez along with her husband Rene Lucero pl...anted flowers around the Church property and donated the mulch as well. We are so fortunate to have such generous benefactors. Now all we need are folks who want to plant in the garden. There are eight available beds. We have a ready water a supply and easy access to the Garden. If you are interested in taking a bed for the season contact S. Linda at 215-535-4646. The beds are free. The maintenance is the responsibility of the planter. With your help, we can keep this little corner of Harrowgate beautiful and productive. See more

We are still selling tickets for the St. Joan of Arc Raffle. This is a major fundraiser for us and we would appreciate whatever support you can give. You can order online at holyinocents.org/joanofarc. Thanks for your help.

During the months of March and April we were working hard here at the Mission to help people, especially those who are undocumented in our community, to receive the COVID 19 vaccine. We want to thank Quetsy Lozada and her staff at Esperanza Health, Shannon Farrell and all those who organized the clinic at St. George's School and the Philadelphia Department of Health for all their support. By using the e-mail of St. Joan of Arc for confirmation and taking registrations after Mass, we have been able to help 243 people become vaccinated against COVID.

The teachers at Webster have been at it again. Under the leadership of Nancy Wagner Fackelman, who teaches kindergarten at Webster, the teachers arrived at The Mission of St. Joan of Arc on May 4 with vans full of food, diapers and gift cards to be distributed at our food pantry. We are so grateful for your continued support.

We are grateful to the many people who have supported our food pantry during the past year. Every week we distribute food to an average of 100 families. We are always appreciative of donations because to give two bags of nutritious food to each family adds up. One group that has been helping us recently is the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division #39 located in Tacony. They have come twice with 50 boxes of food to be distributed to those in need. Thanks to Tommy Conway and Gary Watson for making this donation possible. We also appreciate CLIP who lent their trucks for the transportation of the boxes.

It is that time of the year again. The church committee of the Mission of St. Joan of Arc is beginning to organize their Flea Markets once again. They are held in front of the Church every other Saturday. In addition to the normal flea market "stuff", they also sell delicious homemade Latino food. Papusas, empanadas, arroz con habicuelas, pollo quizado and pernil are just a some of the scrumptious offerings. All the food is donated by the committee and members of the Church community so that the proceeds go directly to the Mission. To rent a table is $15.00. For more information call 215-535-4641. The next Flea Market will be on Saturday, May 15 from 9AM until 2PM. Come and check us out.

Another group who has been very generous to the Mission of St. Joan of Arc Food Pantry has been the Harrowgate Civic Association. Shannon Farrell and her co-workers have reached out to individuals, local organizations and businesses for donations to the pantry and have sponsored several drives which have brought in many donations. Erin Farrell and Sandy Arkoff have been steady enders in preparing the bags and distributing the food every Tuesday and Thursday. We are most grateful for their help and support.

Easter was a very happy occasion this year. So much different than last year. The Holy Week services were beautiful and we were so happy to be back in the Church which we all love for the wonderful feast of the Resurrection.

Our good friend, Bishop Edward Deliman, visited the Mission of St. Joan of Arc and celebrated the 9AM and 11:30AM Mass with the community here. We are so grateful for his help and support. May God continue to bless him with good health.

We could not survive without the generous help of our worshipping community. Every weekend many folks arrive to do the work of maintaining our Church. We have the faithful group who has cleaned the Church thoroughly every weekend since we began Mass again in the beginning of June. We also have people like Rene Lucero who comes every weekend with his leaf blower to help clean up all the leaves which are so prevalent during this time of the year. Several weeks ago there was... a car accident on Atlantic St. which destroyed the cement and the guide post alongside our property. Although the City said that they would eventually repair it, we all know with what is happening in the City these days, it will take a long time for them to get around to it. However, not to worry. Benjamin Zacarias volunteered to repair it and now it is safe for people to walk down the street. Thanks Rene and Benjamin for your generous work. See more

The folks who make up the worshipping community of the Mission of St. Joan of Arc are constantly trying to make up for the financial loss we are experiencing from the diminished attendance at our Sunday Masses. One way the "comite" is trying to raise funds is through a bi-monthly flea market which has been held every other Saturday since the end of August. Through the sale of food, (Marta Ramirez's pupusas are to die for) and donated clothes and household articles, the have... been able to raise $3, 738.00 to cover the expenses of the Church. God has been good to us by giving us good weather and it has been a great way for the neighborhood folk to gather. We are grateful for everyone's support. We will continue with the sale of food during the winter months. We will keep you posted on how you can order some wonderful food from several Latino countries. See more

One of the ways that the Mission of St. Joan of Arc has been supporting folks who have the dilemma of choosing to work or leaving their children home alone to negotiate the new virtual learning method, has been to begin a School Assist Center at the SJA MIssion Center. Eight to ten students come everyday to attend their classes virtually and to receive help from Kaitlyn Khayat, NDMVA, S. Selena Wilson, OP or S. Linda Lukiewski, SSJ with their assignments. They receive breakfast and lunch from the NDS of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It has been a great way to help the parents, the students and each of us who are helping to meet the challenges of this very difficult time.

On Saturday, October 10 a few members of the Notre Dame Raffle Committee gathered to pick the winning ticket. Although there will be no Notre Dame Football game this year, the prize was the cost of the trip: $3500.00. Many thanks to all of you who supported the raffle. We are also very grateful to those benefactors who donated the actual prize money as well. Because of their generosity, the total amount realized for the benefit of the Mission of St. Joan of Arc was $22, 727.... This raffle has been a great help to us during this very difficult time of the pandemic. With little or no collections in Church for several months and the curtailment of many of our other fundraisers due to the pandemic, the monies donated for the raffle have truly helped us to maintain the Church and continue our ministries which are more necessary now than ever. Once again, thank you for all your support. Now to the winner! Congratulations goes to James White of Villanova who is a Notre Dame alumni. J.J. White is a longtime friend of Holy Innocents Parish and generously returned the prize money to the Church for which we are very grateful. Hopefully, next year we will be back to South Bend, Indiana for a ND Football game. Until then we hope that you all remain safe and healthy. God bless you all.

Every year we are fortunate to have with us dedicated volunteers. A very special group of volunteers who have helped us recently are the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers AmeriCorps. Their director, Sarah Crake, uses the SJA Mission Center as her home base and hosts trainings every other Friday for the seven volunteers serving throughout the city of Philadelphia. Here is a look at these generous young people.

On Sunday, September 27, Taymee Alamo Cruz received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. It was a wonderful celebration and we are so happy that Taymee is fully initiated into the Catholic Church.

Although we have been quarantined due to the Covid-19 virus, that does not mean that we have not been meeting and having some wonderful activities within our worshipping community. During each Sunday Mass in September, our First Communicants have received the Eucharist for the first time. Each was a unique and special celebration.

Hello! My name is Kaitlyn Khayat, and I am currently serving as the AmeriCorps member with Notre Dame Mission Volunteers at St. Joan of Arc. I grew up in Buffalo, New York, and I attended college at The College of Wooster in Ohio. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Religious Studies. I am interested in community development, nonprofit work, and ministry. I like to listen to folk music, bake for my friends, garden, and snuggle with my cat. I look forward to meeting you all throughout the year!

We are sad to say that we have to change the venue for our Notre Dame Football Raffle. The University of Notre Dame will be playing football this season, however, only a limited number of university students will be allowed to attend. No visitors from the outside will be able to be on campus. Therefore, we are raffling off the price of the weekend: $3500.00. The information is included in the flyer.

Just a small sample of what is distributed and not to forget our Philadelphia Finest who accompany us every day as well. Thanks for your help and support.

On June 6 we began to reopen St. Joan of Arc Church for Mass. We welcomed folks back to the 9AM English Mass and 11:30AM Spanish Mass. Although we have followed all the social distance guidelines, the sense of joy and community at being back together again in our church is palpable. As we begin to enter this "green phase" we hope that people will feel more comfortable coming back to Church. Your presence is missed.

As we begin this 4th of July Weekend, we would like to celebrate all those faithful volunteers here at the Mission of St. Joan of Arc who have helped to distribute food to so many people here in our neighborhood. Since we began on April 6 we have given out 10, 400 boxes of food from the City of Philadelphia and 27,030 breakfasts and lunches from Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Every Thursday, we have also been able to distribute hundreds of diapers thanks to the Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank. None of this would be possible without the help of our volunteers who arrive at 7AM every Monday and Thursday to help unload the food from the trucks and bag it to be given out from 10AM until 12noon. They have been selfless and deserve much gratitude.