SERVICE
One of our members, Father Michael Stalla, is currently serving at the Diocese of Cleveland's Mission in Teotepeque - El Salvador.
Fr.Mike maintains a blog detailing life among these poorest
of the poor and how they are examples of the humility
and charity of service that we should all strive for.
Keep up with the adventures, difficulties, and
inspirational stories of the members of his Mission Parish by
following his blog. Click on the following link: Fr. Mike's Blog
The Father Ragan
Council provides services to the community primarily through its
gifting programs as outlined in the introduction. To raise money for
the gifts, a number of fundraisers are either ongoing or periodic. For
example, Fridays are devoted to bingo at the center. Spaghetti dinner
benefits are held for specific purposes. A May 18, 2008 benefit at the
Knights of Columbus Hall was for the benefit of two-year-old Madison
Mehal whose father, a teacher at St. Mary's School, recently died.
Raffles and other activities are used to raise additional money.
We also note that important services flow indirectly from council
members whose influence generates remarkable activities. 
For
example, Gregg Lowe, son of Joe and Helen Lowe was instrumental in
creating the ultra-modern, $3.4 million Joseph and Helen
Lowe Pre-Engineering & Technology Center at St.
Edward high school in Cleveland, Ohio. The facility was dedicated on
July 31, 2008 with about 500 guests in attendance. Gregg’s vision and
financial backing initiated the pre-engineering program in 2001. About
300 of the school’s 900 students enroll in the program and over ninety
percent go on to study engineering in college. The new 13,000 square
foot facility has nine rooms, a pre-engineering lab, a seminar room and
four classrooms. The freestanding building boasts 10 miles of network
cable and more than ninety new computers. Its lobby connects to a brand
new chapel topped with a decorative gold dome.
Hover the mouse pointer over the following words for additonal views of
the technology center.
Joe and Helen
|
Building 
|
Chapel 
|
Entrance 
Incidentally, Joe and Helen have eleven children. God’s gift of life is
indeed precious. Thank you and congratulations!
On the special
services page you will find more details about what we do to
identify and respond to special needs.
Brother George Perz, our resident philatelist, assures me that
your Used Postage Stamps are worth money for Charities. Here is the
scoop:
"Salvaging and collecting used stamps is a way to help various
charities.
Thus, everyone can be counted as donating to charities and still be
sitting at
home. This is an impressive fact. Stamps I have collected have been
given to Father Gerard Gonda O.S.B. of Benedictine High School. They
accumulate from many sources and then sell back into
the philatelic market to a dealer who retails them or sells to other
philatelic dealers. There is a large secondary market for these used
stamps. What they pay, I have no idea. But in this case, the
Benedictines do generate funds to be used for their many
programs.
I will accept stamps in all forms: complete envelopes and post cards
from which I will cut the stamps and then shred the balance. This
insures that all names will be removed. The paper will be recycled by
placing into a yellow bin behind Holy Trinity's school. Nothing is
wasted. I prefer this method - receiving the entire envelope. However,
I offer a second method. If someone wants to remove the stamps
themselves, they should leave a minimum of one-half inch of paper
around the stamp or stamps where possible. Cut stamps, damaged
perforations, torn stamps, etc., are useless and are discarded. PLEASE
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PEEL STAMPS FROM AN ENVELOPE OR CARD. This almost
always results in a torn or thinned stamp rendering it not collectible.
All stamps are needed: first class in any form (commemoratives, all
flags denominated and non-denominated, and yes, all Christmas,
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and EID); service inscribed stamps (non-profit, bulk
rate, pre-sorted first class, etc.); personal computer postage stamps
(e.g.. Stamps.com); personalized postage stamps (Stamps.com,
Endicia.com, Zazzle.com, etc.); air mail; USPS produced preprinted
envelopes; and, all obsolete postage stamps (postage dues, revenues,
etc.). If it looks like a stamp, send it. Of course, the above
information applies to foreign stamps as well. In other words, they
will take the whole world! Meters, preprinted endicias, and other
similar items are not collected by the missions and I will only recycle
these items. However, if in doubt, send it!
If the entire envelope is donated, these should be put into a dry
plastic grocery bag, If the stamps are cut from the envelopes, the
stamps should be put into a larger envelope or sealed baggie.
If the stamps are brought on the normal Thursday meeting nights, I will
take them since I try to get there after bowling. If I cannot be there,
I will ask Jim Bruder, Vic Sedivec, or Cy Bliss to pick them up for me.
If they have to be stored (short term only), I would think that the
office would be the logical place so no one discards "this junk." I can
hear it already: "Get rid of this junk!" (Note aside: a piece of "junk"
sold last week on e-bay for more than $1,000. The stamp sold is a used
copy of the $0.37 Snowy Egret produced in 2003 - two rate changes ago!
"Junk," my foot! You can see why there is an aftermarket for this
material. I refuse to call it "junk." This also proves that age has
nothing to do with the value of anything.) Which brings me to another
Note Aside: I will offer my opinion to anyone who may have a stamp, old
cover, or collection that they own or has been handed down, but don't
know what to do with it.
I am not an appraiser, nor will I attempt to do so. But, I can offer an
educated opinion. I would not want someone to donate valuable stamps to
this cause since neither the owner nor the mission will benefit from
its value without the collection being properly identified as valuable.
Material like this would have to be viewed by appointment. I would
emphasize that older material not be reduced to small cut squares of
paper. If someone has any older material, they should call me first. I
am sure this will generate more questions than the above outline
covers. But I am here to answer them. But the most important step is to
start saving. If you want to become a philatelist that will definitely
take more time. I have been a collector for more than sixty years.
George (Perz) (440) 937-6606."