Ministry and Life Enrichment for Persons with Disabilities, a Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi program, welcomed some 120 clients at the Heart of Christmas Drive-thru, held in the parking lot of St. John Paul II High School Campus and Immaculate Conception Chapel on Dec. 5.
The chapel and campus have been stomping grounds for many of their clients, but many of the services which use to be offered there, including Mass have been suspended or have had to lower attendance due to the pandemic.
Celia Mendez, program manager, Community Outreach Services Department director and American Sign Language Interpreter, said that they could have had the event at Catholic Charities, but she wanted to draw them back to church. “Church has started back up again, but many parents understandably are concerned about getting the Coronavirus. We miss them,” she said. “And we want them to know we care, so this was something we could do for them.”
There were ten stations at different locations set around the campus’ circular drive. The client’s family could drive through and pick-up gift bags of resource packets, toys for the children, and gifts for the adults, holy water, rosaries, and a sack lunch. Santa even had a station from a distance. Father RJ Regalado, the ministries’ pastor, gave a blessing at one of the stations.
Other stations represented various groups and agencies. The were Parents as Teachers, Special Hearts in the Arts, Coastal Bend Aging and Disability Resource Center, and the Alhambras and Sultanas, who are great friends of the ministry. Other stations included Jefra/Minga Insurance, Catholic Charities family and friends, and Knights of Columbus.