Integration of Creation - Environmental Ministry
The parish community has made the decision to deepen its commitment to a preferential option for the poor. A concern for the environment is an integral part of this commitment. From elevated asthma levels in American inner cities to the possibility of unimaginable devastation caused by rising sea levels in Bangladesh, the poor are the first victims of environmental degradation and have the fewest resources for combating its effects. The Environmental Ministry works to provide members of OLQP with information, insights and inspiration for acting upon the growing concern over the kind of Earth their children and grandchildren will inherit. Participation with this ministry is encouraged.
Contact DeeDee Tostanoski, 703-548-9060, deedee.tostanoski@occ.treas.gov
OLQP crafters with handmade scarves for the homeless
Feed The Hungry
- Carpenter's Shelter Each third Thursday of the month OLQP volunteers provide a nutritious meal for the residents of Alexandria's Carpenter's Shelter. Several opportunities for participation are involved: provide a portion of the meal by delivering it to the parish, help prepare the meal for delivery to the shelter, or serve at the shelter. A sign-up board is prepared each month and hung in the church vestibule, to the far right as you exit from the center aisle.
Contact Parish Office - 703-979-5580, mailto:office@olqpva.org
- Parish Food Pantry A Food Drive is held each 2nd Sunday of the month to stock the pantry shelves with donations of canned goods and non-perishable items for our hungry neighbors. Re-useable OLQP green grocery bags and a shopping list are distributed the weekend before. The 2nd Sunday Food Drive does not provide for the current demand
- an average of 115 bags of food are distributed to area residents each week to help
supplement their grocery needs; nearly 6,000 bags a year - so food donations are encouraged throughout themonth. Contents of our food bags include canned vegetables, soup, meat or fish, pasta, ragú or tomato products, peanut butter or
jelly, rice, beans (bulk bags of both stretch our resources) cereal, and dessert. Ministry opportunities include helping with the monthly food drives, sorting and bagging the donations, shopping for what is still needed after donations come in, and distributing the bags on Wednesday mornings.
Contact Michelle Knight: 703-979-5580, mknight@olqpva.org
- Thanksgiving Food Baskets Queen of Peace provides Thanksgiving food baskets, complete with a 10-15 pound turkey, to 150 of our hungry area families. Much of the parish participates in this Queen of Peace tradition by donating food items, and then sorting and bagging the food and distributing the baskets.
Contact Michelle Knight: 703-979-5580, mknight@olqpva.org
Haiti Ministry
This group is committed to facilitating and supporting a linkage of our parish with our sister parish, St. Joseph's in Medor, Haiti. This linkage strengthens our long standing commitment to social justice in a personal way by creating lasting relationships with people from another culture. The goal is to broaden our view and understanding of the global Church. Since our beginning in 1997, we have welcomed small delegations from Medor and have also sent delegations of OLQP parishioners to visit Medor. These visitations help us to listen to the needs of the people and enable us to aid them in the way they wish. The people of OLQP have contributed to building a church, a new primary and secondary school in Medor, and continue to support the expense of school and clinic related staff members. OLQP is supporting a clean water and sanitation initiative in the Medor area. OLQP also assists the priest in administering to the 12 chapels connected with the parish. Our main thrust is helping the people of Medor to raise their own economic standard of living. We continue to explore ways in which we can deepen the personal and spiritual relationship between the people of OLQP and the people of Medor. Join us in strengthening this global partnership. Click here for more information on our work in Haiti...
Contact Sue Carlson: 703-525-9131, marysusancarlson@gmail.com
Photos from our 2007 trip to Medor
Fact Sheet on Medor
Just$
Just$ is Our Lady Queen of Peace's program to raise funds for the Parish Food Pantry and the Orphans of AIDS in Africa ministry. Money is generated from the sale of gift cards from Giant (5%), Safeway (4%) and Shoppers Food Warehouse (5%). Cards are sold by volunteers after Mass every weekend.
Contact Michelle Knight: 703-979-5580, mknight@olqpva.org
Contact Frances Michalkewicz, 703-461-8870, fmichalkewicz@comcast.net
Respect Life Ministry
The goal of the Respect Life Ministry is threefold: 1) to raise awareness of the humanity of the unborn by praying and giving public witness for them and their mothers and fathers; 2) to educate the community and influence legislation about life issues, including abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment and embryonic stem cell research, and; 3) to support as a parish women in distress pregnancies, both before and after birth. We acknowledge the seamless garment of life. All are welcome.
Contact Thea Rossi Barron: 703-354-0580, theabarron@yahoo.com
Gabriel Project
The Gabriel Project assists pregnant women in need. Support could include friendship, prayer, help with transportation and/or meals, baby clothes and items, connections to local resources. If you or someone you know could use this assistance or if you would like to help with this ministry, contact us.
Contact Shari Zamarra: 703-323-9367, sharizamarra@yahoo.com
Matthew 25 Bazaar
The Matt 25 Bazaar is a thrift shop located in the Ministry Center. It provides an outlet for the distribution of emergency clothing within the community. The Matt 25 is run entirely by volunteers. Additional volunteers are needed to help sort donations and operate the facility, open Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays from 9 am to 12 Noon, and Thursdays from 12 Noon to 3 p.m. We are especially in need of bilingual (English/Spanish) volunteers.
Contact Sally Diaz-wells, 703-920-1418, or Michelle Knight - 703-979-5580, mknight@olqpva.org
Orphans of AIDS in Africa
OLQP and St. Charles Borromeo promote awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS on African families, lend moral and financial support and solidarity to African Catholic organizations serving the affected families, and encourage personal contact via community members who visit or temporarily live in African communities. A portion of the funds raised through Just$ are being used to help a community project in Mweiga, Kenya.
Contact Frances Michalkewicz: 703-461-8870, fmichalkewicz@comcast.net
Social Justice Committee
The Social Justice Committee of Our Lady Queen of Peace parish actively promotes the following principles of Catholic Social Teaching through information, education, service, and advocacy:
- The life and dignity of the human person;
- The call to family, community and participation;
- Individual rights and responsibilities;
- Preferential option for the poor and vulnerable;
- The dignity of work and the rights of workers;
- Integrity of creation;
- Solidarity with all humanity
In carrying out this mission, the Social Justice Committee has direct responsibility for several parish ministries and has liaison responsibilities with a host of other parish ministries and outside organizations and initiatives.
Contact Chair, Bill Larme, 703-642-6164, blarme@msn.com
VOICE - Virginians Organized for Interfaith
Community Engagement
As Catholics we have a rich heritage of social justice teachings that challenge us to move beyond charity and seek justice in our own communities and the larger world around us. Our ability to influence positive change in unjust systems is greatly enhanced when we engage with other like-minded people. OLQP is a founding member of VOICE, a community organizing group composed of
48 faith communities throughout northern Virginia that are united in solidarity with our vulnerable brothers and sisters. VOICE is currently working on three agenda areas: affordable housing (including the condition of existing housing stock), access to adult dental care and our country's broken immigration system.
Contact: DeeDee Tostanoski - 301-433-8880,
deedee.tostanoski@occ.treas.gov
Contact: Michelle Knight - 703-979-5580, mknight@olpqva.org
Voice of the Faithful (VOTF)
Voice of the Faithful Northern Virginia (VOTF-NOVA) is an affiliate of the National VOTF organization. We are mainstream faithful Catholics who are working to support all those wounded by the clergy sexual abuse scandal in our Church. Direct outreach to and support for survivors of clergy sexual abuse is our affiliate's primary focus but we also work to seek Church governance changes that will ensure protection of children and preclude repetition of these abuses in the future. We hold meetings regularly which include speakers, discussion groups, etc. All open meetings are announced in the OLQP bulletin. We welcome survivors, their families and loved ones, and all those Catholics who have been wounded by the sexual abuse scandal.
Contact: Evelyn Mercantini - 703-626-1594, esmerc48@comcast.net
Pax Christi, Pentagon Area
Pax Christi is an international Catholic peace movement aimed at building peace and justice through
exploring and articulating Christian non-violence and applying it first to personal life and then social structures. The Pentagon Area chapter invites parishioners to respond to Christ's call by forming a community that works to build peace based on justice and love.
Pax Christi Metro DC/Baltimore: http://www.paxchristimetrodc.org/
Contact: Jack McHale - 571-334-2654, jjmchale@verizon.net
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