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Alternative Christmas Marketplace

By November 13, 2025No Comments

Alternative Christmas Marketplace

December 6 & 7, 2025 – After Masses in the Community Room

Celebrate the season with gifts that truly make a difference! Instead of adding more “stuff,” give in honor of someone you love and help provide food, shelter, education, and hope around the world.

These unique, meaningful gifts keep giving long after the holidays end. Visit the Community Room to meet representatives from the organizations below—many connected to our parish—and learn how your support changes lives.

Give a gift that matters this Christmas—a gift that changes lives.

Hekima Place – Mary Jo Davila-Ryan

Hekima Place provides a loving home for orphaned and vulnerable girls in Kenya. They are committed to giving their girls a high-quality education, nutritious meals, and good health care.

Hekima Place has a new component — Hekima Hills Learning Center, a school open to boys and girls from Pre-K through Grade 5. There are 200 students enrolled, 40 of whom are on full scholarships.

Hekima Place is a family and a vibrant community, based on love, faith, and respect.
Learn more or donate: www.hekimaplace.org

Mulumba Global Charities – Seraphin Mulumba

Mulumba Global Charities Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower refugees in Africa by providing clothes donated from individuals as well as companies. They provide educational opportunities to those who face financial barriers to pursuing their academic goals and help provide a substantial amount of food and meals to those in need.

More information:

The Tool Library – Darren Cotton

At The Tool Library, the belief is that cost shouldn’t be a barrier to fixing up your home, growing your own food, or improving your community.

As a community-based, member-driven non-profit, people can join The Tool Library for as little as $30/year and gain access to thousands of tools, free educational programming, and a supportive community of doers and makers. They are proving that a more just, sustainable, and connected world is not only possible, it’s happening right here in WNY.

Learn more: thetoollibrary.org

Mothers Clubs of Haiti – Kathy Mang

Mothers Clubs of Haiti, a non-profit charity now recognized as a National Program in Haiti, has worked with the women of Haiti to improve their standard of living through low-interest loans to start businesses for self-sustainability. This work has empowered women, fed their families, and provided much for their communities.

To donate:
Make checks payable to “Mothers Clubs of Haiti” and send to:

  • Barbara Grove, Director, 311 1st St. NW, Crosby, MN 56441

  • or parishioner Katherine Mang, 129 Treebrooke Ct., Williamsville, NY 14221 • 716-997-2010

Website: www.mclubsth.org

Bikes for Refugees – John Aman & Colleen Colligan

The Bikes for Refugees Project is a ministry of the Immigration, Refugee and Human Trafficking Committee in partnership with Wheels for Workers 716. They accept donations to support the recycling, repair, and distribution of bikes to newly arrived immigrants and refugees.

Bikes provide much-needed transportation to work, clinics, school, and grocery stores. Working with resettlement agencies, parishes, and other organizations, they have collected and distributed over 1,700 bicycles to adults and children in our community.

Global African Village – Sharon Green

Global African Village is a small, all-volunteer nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to the impoverished Bagishu people of rural Uganda. Its primary projects are education, health care, infrastructure improvement, and small-business development.

Donations are gratefully accepted:

Future In Our Hands (FIOH-USA) – Mary Ellen Dye & Ann Beckley-Forest

Future in Our Hands, USA is 17 years strong and continues to help communities in Kenya and Zambia overcome poverty. FIOH-USA has funded:

  • An agricultural trading project to empower women in Zambia

  • Healthy harvest demonstration gardens in Kisumu and Kisii, Kenya

  • Emergency food distribution, face masks, hand soap, and community education to prevent the spread of COVID-19

To support their work:

  • Give online at: futureinourhandsusa.org

  • Or send a check payable to “FIOH-USA” to:

    • Parishioner Mary Ellen Dye, 88 Huntington Ct., Williamsville, NY 14221