THANK YOU! Without your donations, none of this is possible!
September 11, 2004
Blessed Bloomers III, a Mychal's Message Project
The Breadline at St. Francis of Assisi Church, New York City
Mychal's Messengers today included Shannon, her parents Joe and Kelly,
brother Christopher, sister Erin, and grandparents Bob and Sharon, as well
as friends Carol, Sarah and Chris, friends from Holy Angels Parish in Little
Falls NJ Laura and Jean, and Father Cassian Miles, OFM from St. Francis
Church in NYC.
Donations included over 1,000 underwear, undershirts and socks; 250 baseball
caps donated by the N.Y. Mets; 250 American flags donated by the American
Legion; 100 pounds of bananas; 300 freshly baked corn and blueberry muffins;
and walnuts and butter for the muffins donated by McDonalds of Lancaster,
PA. Each "Blessed Bloomers" package included 2 pair of underwear, a
T-shirt, a pair of socks and a pack of M&M's.
Our day began with a prayer led by Shannon at which time she prayed for all
the victims of 9-11 and their families. Everyone joined as Shannon ended
her prayer with Father Mychal's words, "Lord, take me where You want me to
go, Let me meet who You want me to meet, Tell me what You want me to say,
and Keep me out of Your way."
There were less men and women on the Line than we expected. It gave us time
to slow down and talk to them. We'd like to share some special moments from
our morning ...
- Our Mychal's Messenger Jean from Holy Angels in Little Falls explained
that she is taking steps to become 3rd Order Franciscan as a result of the
life-changing events of her son being a survivor of 9-11. Jean has been on
the Line twice with us now. She and Laura collected almost 800 pair of
socks for this project at Holy Angels.
- Our homeless friend Tyrone asked for washcloths. Carol went to her car
and found a pack of baby wipes in her purse. Tyrone showed her his leg
which was dry and scaly and seemed to need medical attention. He mumbled
something about the other leg and a gun shot wound. She told him we would
pray for him for healing and went to get Kelly who came back with her and
prayed for him right there - reminding him that he was God's child and God
loves him, and for his healing.
- We brought along a "patchwork quilt" (as we called it) which was made up
of the many different colored fleeces used to make "Holy Hats" last year.
It was donated to us, and we held it for a special person. Today, an Asian
man approached the Line. He was pushing a baby stroller filled with all of
his personal items. He had a bungee cord at the top, holding everything
in. Something inside of us said, "he needs a blanket." He was very
grateful for his new, warm blanket.
- A man was sleeping on a piece of cardboard on the street. He was cradled
up, almost in a fetal position, and only wearing a T-shirt and a pair of
jeans. It was chilly that morning, and Sharon noticed him and knew he was
cold. She immediately put a warm pleated flannel shirt over him, a shirt
just given to us by a woman whose father had recently passed away and never
had a chance to wear the shirt. Now that shirt warmed a homeless man on the
street.
- Linda had beautiful skin and was wearing red plastic flip flops. Her feet
were double the size from being swollen. Carol went to her car and got her
a pair of new sneakers that someone had sent us. They were size 10 1/2 and
because her feet were so swollen they fit her perfectly. She was very
grateful that her feet were protected and leaned up against the bricks of
the church to tie her new shoes.
- Richard was a very tall man with an African colorful hat and had on some
leather slip-on shoes with socks. He was happy to have Bob's steel-toe
workboots (size 14) that he had never worn. Richard keeps with him a cart
full of belongings, some cardboard and a white plastic (non-foldable) lawn
chair. Carol asked him how he got around with everything, and he explained
that he organizes everything and then piles the chair on top. Because he's
so tall, he can see over the top of the pile.
- A friend from Italy had given us some new jeans to give away. They were
small sizes. The security guard for St. Francis helped us find just the
right men for those jeans. How grateful they were to receive them.
- We had so many bananas, muffins and "Blessed Bloomers." We left the food
with Father Cassian to be given out on Sunday AM on the Breadline, and the
remaining "Blessed Bloomers" and the socks from Little Falls will be brought
to Father Michael Duffy for his homeless friends in Philadelphia.
- Shannon gave out baseball caps; Sarah gave out flags; Father Cassian,
Kelly and Carol gave out muffins and bananas; Laura, Jean, Bob, Sharon,
Chris and Joe gave out underwear; Christopher and Erin helped with flags and
caps. Everyone was accomodated and left with a package of new underwear
thanks to the generosity of strangers - people from all over the United
States of America who sent underwear, undershirts, socks and donations.
We all attended 8:00 mass together. Even at mass, special moments came ...
- In line first for the Holy Eucharist was one of our homeless friends,
proudly wearing his new backpack, donated by Carol's cousin Audrey. Audrey
sends backpacks in with Carol everytime she goes. Today, one of the
recipients of that bright yellow backpack wore his to receive Jesus in the
Eucharist. As he walked back through the church, he looked over and
recognized us. He gave us a thumbs-up as he pointed to his new backpack.
- Margaret and her two friends were first noticed when they came into mass a
little after 8 AM. All 3 were wearing NY Yankees hats, scarves, and
clothing. We saw them later on the street and engaged in conversation.
They were on their way to Baltimore on the bus to a Yankees game. Margaret
explained that she was really a Mets fan, so Carol ran and got her one of
the leftover Mets caps from the van, and one for each of her friends as
well. Margaret knew about Mychal's Message, had read about Shannon
somewhere, and quickly went up the street to a store to purchase some socks
for us.
Our journey then led us to Ground Zero where we met up with Brother David
and rang the Memorial Bell. It tolled one time for each of the lives lost
on 9-11. We listened as family members read the names of their loved ones
and all those who died on that day 3 years ago.
We met up with Rev. Wabst, one of Fr. Mychal's dear friends and a chaplain
to the NYC Fire Department. Kelly had met him the week before at the Fr.
Mychal Judge Walk of Remembrance. Such a coincidence and such a special
meeting could only have been arranged by Fr. Mychal! He is a gentle man,
full of life and spirit and alive with the love of God. It felt good to be
with him on this day. He brought us to St. Peter's Church and showed us the
altar where Father Mychal's body was placed after his death. He then put on
the stole he wore when he blessed Father Mychal's body and gave us all a
special blessing. He ended the blessing with Father Mychal's prayer.
We then walked up to St. Paul's Church to see the beautiful memorial tribute
there. We bought a children's book entitled, "The Little Chapel That Stood"
which told the story of St. Paul's Church and how it opened its doors to the
emergency workers who came to the aid of this city on 9-11. We met the
author who signed our books. We saw some of the many items which were left
by family members after 9-11 as they searched for their loved ones.
As we continued walking toward Grond Zero, Sharon met Maurice of CBS news.
She told him that he'd been in her living room every day for years (on TV)
and then introduced him to her family. She gave him a prayer card. A block
later, Sharon met Ralph Penza. We then decided that she watches too much
news! News trucks were everywhere as we approached Ground Zero.
We then gathered together at Ground Zero and were reminded of all that
happened there 3 years ago. As we reflected on our day, none of us could
imagine being anywhere else today than here. Sharon reminded us of all the
good that had come in these last 3 years despite the evil that struck us
that day.
We took the subway back to our cars, got a pretzel on the street and left
the city we have really grown to love. It was good to be there.
Kelly Lynch
Founder, Mychal's Message
Home | Our Projects | About Fr. Mychal | About Mychal's Message | Donate
Contact us: info@mychalsmessage.org
Mychal's Message logo and all graphic design graciously donated by
M. Scott Oatman Graphic Design
and Illustration.
Website development and maintenance donated by
UtterClarity.
All content © 2007, Mychal's
Message
This page was last updated on: June 4, 2005.
Mychal's Message, Inc. is registered as a charitable organization with the Department of State's Bureau of Charitable Organizations under the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act, 10 P.S. Section 16.2 et seq., and is authorized to solicit charitable contributions under the conditions and limitations set forth under the Act. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State, Bureau of Charitable Organizations