Outreach Ministry in Clintwood Mission Happens Year 'Round

Christine Ramirez holds a doll that will be part of a needy child’s Christmas surprise this year. Over 100 people in the county will have a merrier Christmas thanks to the efforts of Glenmary’s Clintwood, Va., mission.

Outreach ministry at Glenmary’s St. Joseph Mission in Clintwood, Va., takes place year ‘round, but it takes on special meaning as Christmas approaches and preparations begin for an annual program which ensures everyone in Dickenson County has a Merry Christmas.

While many parishes and churches have similar programs, not many accomplish so much with so few resources and so few hands to help. The congregation is made up of 35 members, many of whom are past the age of 65, and is located in a Southwest Virginia county which has 20 percent of its 16,000 people living in poverty, a per capita income under $13,000 and an unemployment rate between 15 and 18 percent.

Members of the mission don’t pay much attention to statistics. They simply say they help those in need and do what needs to be done.

What needs to be done in December is reach out to over 100 children and adults in Dickenson County who would otherwise face empty stockings on Christmas morning. While other local churches provide for children in their congregations, St. Joseph provides for children from the entire county who are in need, regardless of their faith tradition.

Throughout the year, the parishioners of St. Joseph maintain a list of children whose families have been assisted by the many programs provided by the mission to those in need. That list of children is the beginning of the mission’s Christmas gift list.

Christine Ramirez, pastoral coordinator of the mission, says the people of the Clintwood mission share the love of Christ every day of the year through their outreach. The parish offers assistance to those in need through a food bank that serves 700 families a month; through a housing program for the elderly and poor; through three outreach centers located throughout the county which provide food, clothing and emergency help with utility bills…. That message of love and hope—the message of the Christ Child—takes on a special meaning in weeks leading up to Christmas.

It’s the generosity of many people and groups connected to St. Joseph that makes the Virginia mission’s outreach possible throughout the year says Christine. St. Boniface the Martyr Church in Sea Cliff, N.Y., is one of those groups. As an adoptor of St. Joseph, the New York community helps to literally “make our ministry happen,” Christine says.

And that includes the mission’s Christmas program. Virginia Holbrook, a 10-year member of St. Joseph, organizes the program with the help of other parishioners as well as members of other local churches. In previous years, gifts were provided for children only. This year the mission decided to broaden their outreach and have added 25 adults and children in the county who have disabilities.

Weeks before Christmas, packages of new toys begin to arrive in Clintwood from donors all over the country, many who have a connection to the Clintwood mission and others who have learned of the mission’s work and are eager to help. Virginia and volunteers sort the toys into bags marked with children’s names and ages. Although parents give Virginia an idea of the types of things their children would like to receive, volunteers can’t always match the wish. But disappointment has never been a problem, Virginia says.

This year an additional gift will be given: a shoebox filled with a toothbrush and toothpaste, small toys, sweets, and underwear. “And socks,” Virginia laughs. “For some reason, kids love to get new socks.”

After the packages are assembled, parents or guardians pick them up and keep them hidden until Christmas morning—for many these packages are the only gifts under the tree.

But wrapped packages aren’t the end of the generosity. St. Joseph, a member of the local ministerial association, also takes part in the ministerial association’s food drive to provide food for Christmas dinner. Volunteers solicit donations of non-perishable food items, which are included in a food box that accompanies the toy and shoebox of personal items. The mission also purchases a turkey for each food box.

“I invite people to be missionaries to the poor and elderly, and to help us to reach out to them,” Christine says. “I tell them that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus for them.”

In describing the members of St. Joseph, Christine says “they are very ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things.”

St. Joseph Mission was returned to the Diocese of Richmond for continued pastoral care in July 2007.

This article originally appeared in the December 2003 Boost-A-Month Club Newsletter