By Jordan Rose Lee

On Friday, September 30, Archbishop Leonard P. Blair presented Church of Christ with a check in the amount of $1,250, funded in part by the Archdiocese of Hartford through the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal Vicariate Outreach Program. 

The funding will help the Minister’s Discretionary Fund continue its mission of helping friends in need with rent, medical bills, home heating costs, auto repairs, grocery shipping, utilities and more. The church also offers support services during the holiday season, including Thanksgiving baskets and Christmas gifts for children.

 “This generous support is most welcome,” said Church of Christ Pastor Erick Olsen. “It is the best face of the church to be actively helping our needy neighbors. The ecumenical unity shown by the Archbishop through our neighbors at Immaculate Conception, who nominated the Church of Christ Minister’s Discretionary Fund for this grant, is a powerful expression of the living presence of the church. This funding changes lives.”

Since 1981, the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal has assisted tens of thousands of people—regardless of race, religion, or color—across the Archdiocese of Hartford with health care, education, housing, emergency expenses, and numerous other essentials. It is through the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal Vicariate Outreach Program and the generosity of its donors that the appeal is able to assist a wide array of community-based charities throughout Hartford, New Haven and Litchfield counties, including this grant to the Church of Christ.