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 The annual Notre Dame Club of Boston Christmas Mass and Brunch was held on Sunday, December 9, 2007 at the Campion Renewal Center in Newton. Fr. Paul Rouse led a very special Christmas Mass complete with holiday hymns and closing with a Domer favorite - The Notre Dame Victory March. To cap off the celebration a very special guest visited from the north pole (see photo).
Chris Bellairs shared news from campus. Chris spent the last 2(??) years working for the Alumni Association in South Bend. He left there just recently and is moving his family to Boston area to pursue a new career opportunity. So, although Chris is no longer an employee of ND, he is a member of our Club. Welcome, Chris! Chris shared some excerpts from Fr. Jenkins speeches to faculty and staff, updates on the latest construction projects around campus, and statistics from the Admissions and Athletic Offices. Most stunning was his slide show that showed the growth of the campus since the days of Fr. Sorin. Chris' entire presentation, including the campus slides, is available on the website at ????? (Joe or Lauren should be sending this to you.)  To highlight the Summer Service Program, we invited Bridget Shaheen, Director of Lazarus House Ministries in Lawrence, to report on the success of the SSP program at this site. As Bridget indicated, the poverty statistics in Lawrence are overwhelming - 90% of children below the poverty line, over 1,100 foreclosures in the first half of 2007, double digit increases in the number of people coming to Lazarus House each week for assistance. The Lazarus House and Good Shepherd Center serve the poor and homeless through a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, food pantry, thrift shop, job training programs, medical and dental care, and child care. Bridget stressed their dependence on volunteers to keep these organizations running. This summer, 3 Notre Dame students spent 8 weeks working for Lazarus House.. In addition to serving meals and sorting donated items, the students entertained the children and interacted with the guests. They all reflected on how deeply they were touched by their experiences with the guests at Lazarus House. For more information about Lazarus House, please visit http://lazarushouse.org. To help support the Club's Summer Service Program and the students who serve at Lazarus House each summer, go to ?????? to make a donation to the ND Boston SSP program.
Linda Douglas received the Club's annual "Alumna(e) of the Year" award for her many years of dedication to the Club and particularly to the Summer Service Program. This was a fitting year to honor Linda as the program grew from 3 to 7 students under her guidance this year with expansion in Lawrence. Santa made a special guest appearance direct from the North Pole to the delight of all (well, most) of the children. Thank you to Santa's helper, Glenn Kane. Many thanks to Chris Bellairs, Bridget Shaheen, Leigh Moreno, Lauren Mack, Glenn Kane, Fr. Rouse, Ray Wise, Karen McFarlane, and Joe Eddy for their help in planning this year's very special holiday event! |
