Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. It always occurs on the Sunday following Christmas. This year, the two feasts are back-to-back since Christmas fell on a Saturday. How appropriate, then, that The St. Nicholas Project should celebrate the publication of its 100th blog supporting The Kurn Hattin Homes for Children on the Feast of the Holy Family.
The family has been at the origin of the mission of the Kurn Hattin Homes, since its original foundation by the Reverend Charles A. Dickinson in 1894. Its ongoing mission is to transform the lives of children and their families, by providing housing, counseling, education and supportive care for children and families experiencing distress and disruption. And while those needs have changed over the course of the decades, as social services have also changed, the care for children and their families in distress remains a constant moral obligation for all of us.
The St. Nicholas Project was founded in 2015 with the primary mission of connecting the Catholic community in Vermont (and beyond) with the Kurn Hattin Homes. Although founded by the Reverend Dickinson, a Protestant minister, Kurn Hattin is a nondenominational residential and academic facility, which accepts children from all religious backgrounds or none. Men and women of all religions and men and women of "good will" continue to exercise charity towards these children.
I would like to dedicate this 100th blog to all of you--the volunteers and donors who have helped The St. Nicholas Project reach the far corners of the state of Vermont. You, our donors, are truly remarkable and are some of the most charitable people I have ever met. You have consistently provided financial and material donations to the boys and girls at the children's home. Even at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, you arose to the occasion and far exceeded my expectations.
I have prayed with much gratitude for all of you at my Christmas Masses this past weekend. As we are soon to enter a New Year, I will keep you all close to my priestly heart at the altar asking the Lord to bless you and yours with abundant graces. From the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of the kids at Kurn Hattin who will never meet you, thank you for remembering the boys and girls who live at the children's home. You have truly been their guardian angels.
God bless you!
