News Release #391

Morgan parishioner and her ministry to the needy to be featured in new documentary

Faith Works: Across the U.S.A. to air on ABC-TV November 6

New Ulm, MN - Mary Larsen, a member of the Church of St. Michael in Morgan, MN, and the 2003 recipient of Catholic Extension's Lumen Christi Award for her “We Care” project, a  garage ministry which provides food and necessities to needy families, will be among several stories portrayed in Faith Works: Across the U.S.A. 2005.

Faith Works: Across the U.S.A. 2005 is a new documentary produced by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC), and is slated to air on November 6 at 4:00 p.m. on Channel 5 (ABC-TV.)

Larsen, also known as the “Garage Grandma,” continues doing what she’s done for the past 30 years; saying “yes” to anyone who is hungry, sick or just simply in need. In this documentary, Larsen explains how her “We Care” project, which she operates out of her four-car garage, provides nearly 20,000 pounds of food to more than 150 families each month.

Some of the other stories featured in the documentary will include how Hurricane Katrina sent hundreds of thousands of displaced Gulf Coast residents to temporary shelters in cities across the southwestern United States and how in Houston, the Roman Catholic community stepped in to help hurricane victims through church-organized programs and individual initiatives. In Houston, we meet Hanh Nguyen, who gave up a vacation in Paris - a college graduation gift from her parents - to help find homes for displaced New Orleans families, and Fr. Mike Amesse of New Orleans’s Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus, who ministered to his parishioners temporarily housed at the Astrodome. In Boston, we learn how the Catholic community has not forgotten the children who are the legacy of 1986’s Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Patty Doyle, Executive Director of the Chernobyl Children Project USA, explains how host families in Boston provide temporary homes for sick children from the contaminated Chernobyl region while they receive quality health care not available in their homeland.

A DVD of Faith Works: Across the USA 2005 will be available through the Catholic Diocese of New Ulm Media Resource Center, (507) 233-5330; email: jweicherding@dnu.org.