MaryFair Final Appeal for Joplin

At our MaryFair Auction, the Final Appeal raised funds for Saint Mary School in Joplin. We raised $16,450! A small group traveled up to Joplin to personally deliver the funds. Here are a few photos from that trip, as well as some thank you cards the staff and children made for you, Saint Mary in Tulsa parishioners.

They said this donation was the largest one they'd received from a fellow parish. Our MaryFair chairs (and I, Ashley Daly, Saint Mary Tulsa staff) were so proud to represent the generosity of our wonderful Tulsa parishioners.

This school community in Joplin has a long way to go, but they have done so well to create a loving and warm environment for their children and staff. It was truly amazing to see what could be accomplished in so little time. It was great to stand among such excellent leaders. They made their space seem so comfortable and safe that it was almost easy to forget all that they still have ahead of them. They face challenges to continue preparing their current space for students, planning for the rebuild of their parish and school, individual teachers and staff are fighting insurance companies for the rebuild of their homes, and even just day to day things like the cool winter weather approaching and realizing they do not have their winter clothes anymore. What amazing people who can create a learning space this vibrant while swimming in these issues.

I know our funds will go to good use as they continue to recover from and grieve the disaster they suffered this past spring.

Thank you for your generosity and beautiful hearts, Saint Mary Tulsa.

In the words of two of the Saint Mary in Joplin students on the giving spirit between our parishes, "We are one big family," and "this shows that Jesus is always with us."