By Tanya Connor
 The Catholic Free Press

BOYLSTON – Partners in Charity helps children attend Catholic school, struggling families get support, and young people renew and share their faith.
It’s a way for people to “be the face of Christ” to others – to evangelize.
Those reminders were shared at the annual appeal’s kickoff Feb. 16 at St. Mary of the Hills Parish.
The evening included a meal, the showing of this year’s video, and a talk about Pernet Family Health Service, an appeal beneficiary, by Pernet’s executive director, Sheilah H. Dooley. While there, priests and parish representatives picked up campaign materials for their churches.
Bishop McManus told those gathered that they are crucial to the campaign’s success. On the video, which can be viewed at partners-charity.net/media, Bishop McManus, and people who serve in or are served by Partners-supported ministries, talk about ways these ministries have helped.
Testimonies include a jubilant college student brought back to his faith by campus ministry, a young person beaming about sharing her faith through youth ministry, a seminarian grateful for how the appeal helps prepare him for priesthood and an African Ministry member speaking about bringing back the lost and inviting in the seekers. A Catholic school student highlights the privilege of going to Mass even when it’s not Sunday. A Catholic Charities worker talks about meeting people’s material needs as a way of being Christian and a client calls the agency a light in her family’s difficult times.
Bishop McManus asks viewers to prayerfully consider how they can make a pledge or a gift. He notes that they can donate on the Partners in Charity website, learn about the giving societies, or respond to their parishes’ mailed or in-pew solicitations.
Mr. Gillespie said there is a QR code on the video, and on the brochures that will be available at churches and mailed to homes with a letter from the pastor and a postage-paid donation envelope. The QR code brings donors to the online giving page.
Kickoff attendees were also given information about one of the appeal’s beneficiaries through Ms. Dooley’s talk.
Pernet Family Health Service is named for Assumptionist Father Stephen Pernet, who lived in France in the 1800s and founded the Little Sisters of the Assumption, she said. The sisters’ mission is to care for the sick in their homes, to strengthen families.
“Our work is mostly home visits in the poorer areas of Worcester and parent education and support groups at the agency on Millbury Street,” Ms. Dooley said. Pernet offers youth groups, maternal-child health visits, early intervention to detect and prevent developmental delays, and aid to families at risk of child abuse and neglect. The Family and Community Development Program brings families together for social, spiritual and educational events. She praised the work of staff and volunteers who make all this possible.
Ms. Dooley said she grew up in a fantastic family and knows the importance of a supportive family. When she worked as a nurse on a hospital maternity floor she was drawn to teenaged mothers or families with social problems. Then she left nursing for 10 years to have her own children.
“I always thought that helping families raise happy, healthy children could prevent so many problems later on,” she said.
Partners helps Pernet support families, she said. Without Pernet’s support, risk could become harm, she said. Intervention can have a great impact.
Later, Mr. Gillespie updated donation figures; by Tuesday of this week Partners had received 1,353 advance gifts totaling $873,232.

CLICK HERE to view the 2023 Partners video and see how you can be the face of Christ.