Please contact the committee members listed or the Parish Office for more information or to assist with any of these activities.

Birthright

• Birthright offers an alternative to abortion by providing caring, non-judgmental support to girls and women who are distressed by an unplanned pregnancy. Birthright services are free, absolutely confidential and available to any woman regardless of age, race, creed, economic or marital status.
• Birthright's philosophy is that "It is the right of every pregnant woman to give birth, and the right of every child to be born."
• Contact: Birthright at 277-2000

Catholic Worker House

• Members of our parish donate food, serve and dine with the residents of the Catholic Worker House, 321 E 8th Street, Waterloo once a month on an "on-call" basis.
• Contact: Kristin Woods at 240-1948

Community Meals

• To help those in need, meals are served once a week in Cedar Falls at the First United Methodist Church, 8th and Washington Streets. The meals are offered every Tuesday (except for the first Tuesday of the month).
• St. Patrick is responsible for donating, preparing, serving, and cleaning up on the 2nd Tuesday each month. The participants look forward to the social evening, nourishing food, fun, and fellowship.
• Contact: Barb Bitterlie 319-464-8511 or Cathy Hartz at 319-231-5569
• Watch for our monthly signup for donations and volunteers: Nov. 2022 Signup

Crisis Response

• Everyone faces challenges and sometimes a little assistance is needed during times of accident, illness, or other losses. The loving response that we can provide may ease the trouble for another.  
• Perhaps you could prepare and deliver a complete meal to a family, act as an emergency care giver or provide transportation to a doctor or dentist appointment.
• If you could potentially help on "short term" notice, call Rita Grimm at 277-8489 for more information.

Home-Bound Visitation

Matthew 25 Fund

• The Matthew 25 Fund reaches out to those in our community who are in need. We serve residents of Cedar Falls only. We do not distribute food boxes without a prior phone call.
• Staff and volunteers maintain a small food pantry to help people through a crisis. We are always in need of food items that can sit on a shelf for a week or two until a need arises. Items such as the following may be donated at the Parish Office or placed on the shelves in the Link Hallway.
  • cereal 
  • peanut butter and jelly 
  • syrup and pancake mix 
  • canned meat, canned vegetables, canned fruit 
  • pasta, instant potatoes, spaghetti and sauce
  • chunky soups and crackers
  • fruit juices and powdered/shelf stable milk 
  • personal hygiene items and laundry detergent are also needed
• If you wish to make a cash donation, place the donation in an envelope marked Matthew 25 Fund and put it in the collection basket at any Mass. Money earmarked for Matthew 25 is used for partial rent assistance, utility assistance, prescription medicines, purchases at the NE Iowa Food Bank or other cash emergencies.
• A family temporarily without food knows we are here. People with medical, emotional, and physical problems have been helped. Someone stranded in Cedar Falls because of car trouble finds their way to our door. Many of the things we take for granted every day are often just the thing we need to provide in order to help the poor or needy.
• Hours of Operation: Monday and Tuesday 9 AM-5 PM
• Contact: Cindy at 266-3523.

Nursing Home Ministry

• St. Patrick volunteers provide refreshments and plan entertainment for the residents. Students from the parish and St. Patrick School often entertain at these events.
• Eucharistic Ministers are needed to distribute Communion each week.
• Contact: Deacon Al Weber at 266-3523

Prison Ministry

• St. Patrick Social Concerns would like to begin a Prison Ministry to address the spiritual needs of incarcerated men, women and children, their families and those who work in the prison environment.
• Contact: Tim Boller at 277-8149

Parish Twinning Program

• The Social Concerns Committee oversees the support St. Patrick Church provides to our sister Parish, St. Jean Bosco, located in Cap Haitian, Haiti. St. Patrick Parish provides financial support from the World Responsibility Fund.
• We participate in the “Twinning” program, which matches up Catholic parishes in the United States with needy parishes in Haiti.  Haiti is predominantly Catholic and is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 
• Get involved by joining the committee, donating funds earmarked for teacher salaries, or donating funds/supplies for the medical clinic. Members of our parish have made visits to John Bosco. Check out the Haiti display in the link hallway and visit our Sister Parish page.
• Contact: Rosie Guerrero at 277-3036

Social Concerns Collection

• The 2nd Sunday of every month, cash in excess of $200 collected during the Offering at each Mass is earmarked for the Social Concerns Committee. Each month, the Committee designates a local agency, group or cause to receive the money from this collection.
• Past recipients include Operation Threshold, Habitat for Humanity, Birthright and the Catholic Worker House.
• Contact: Tim Boller at 277-8149

World Responsibility Fund

• Each fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) the parish tithes a certain amount of money from the parish budget to be donated to worthwhile projects to help the needy in the United States and throughout the world.
• Approximately half of the money budgeted is donated to John Bosco Parish, our sister parish in Haiti. The remaining funds are donated to projects designated by the Social Concerns Committee, subject to the pastor's approval.
• Contact: Tim Boller at 277-8149