Catholic Charities of Buffalo officials today updated the community on the progress of the 2018 Appeal. With two months remaining, the 94th annual Appeal has reached nearly $8.9 million in cash and pledges, or just shy of 81 percent of this year's goal. Volunteers and campaign leadership must raise an additional $2.1 million between now and June 30 in order to reach this year's $11 million goal.

"Daisy" Estelle Anderson has volunteered for Catholic Charities for 30 years, but on April 19, the appreciation and esteem earned for all of her work was given back to her, courtesy of a visit from Al Roker of NBC's "The Today Show."

Ladies of Charity, a volunteer organization affiliated with Catholic Charities of Buffalo, will hold its inaugural Party Saturday fundraising event Saturday, April 14, at Catholic Charities, 75 Caldwell Place, Lackawanna.

Students and volunteers at Villa Maria College are going to feed starving children for .22 cents. That's the cost of one life saving meal from Feed My Starving Children.

With a population of more than 10 million, Haiti is similar in size to the state of Michigan, but when it comes to medical rehabilitation services, there is no comparison.

When people hear the word "charity," thoughts of feeding the poor or giving shelter to the homeless are common. But people have needs far beyond the basics. Since its inception, Catholic Charities of Buffalo has offered services to strengthen families and communities. From domestic abuse counseling to school intervention to parenting classes, Catholic Charities works to support the family unit.

Sister Mary McCarrick, OSF, the retiring diocesan director of Catholic Charities of Buffalo, and Emmie Glynn Ryan, general counsel, chief corporate compliance officer and senior vice president of Catholic Charities Brooklyn Queens, will be honored by the New York State Council of Catholic Charities Directors at a reception on Monday, February 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Albany. The reception is part of the Council's two-day convening February 5-6, in which Catholic Charities personnel from throughout New York State advocate with elected and state agency officials on important issues of concern to the poor and vulnerable.

Catholic Charities announced on that Project HOPE (Helping Older People Excel), a care coordination program for seniors in Erie County who have been diagnosed with a mental health illness, recently relocated from 20 Rich St., Buffalo, to its former location at 128 Wilson St., Buffalo.

In June 2015, Michelle had an accident at work that sent her life spiraling into an unknown abyss of paperwork, pain and poverty. Within months she was homeless, living out of her truck and fearing for her future. The last place she ever thought she would be, turned out to be the last place she had to go - Catholic Charities.

Bishop Richard J. Malone is one who practices what he preaches. The man who has spoken about the need to help the neighbors offered his Christian generosity by volunteering with Meals on Wheels just before Christmas.

Organizations involved in the Western New York Refugee and Asylee Consortium, which represents five agencies that resettle and provide services to refugees, immigrants and asylees in the Buffalo area, joined together today to respond to recent comments attributed to President Trump. The comments seen as inappropriate were allegedly made during meetings this week on immigration policies with lawmakers.

On Jan. 10, Bishop Richard J. Malone announced an $11 million goal for the 2018 Catholic Charities Appeal, joining representatives of Catholic Charities of Buffalo at their new Cheektowaga office providing services for the Women, Infants and Children program in Western New York. In addition to the 2018 goal, the bishop announced this year's patron saint, St. Clare of Assisi; its theme, "Love Your Neighbor," and the 2018 appeal family, the first such family to have this role.

The Sister Mary Josette Food Pantry at Villa Maria College packed two-hundred bags of holiday meals for food pantry clients with the help of the News Neediest Fund run by The Buffalo News. The Fund purchases holiday meals with the help of cash donations, which are then distributed to food pantries by the Food Bank of WNY.

Not everyone has the luxury of enjoying a hearty dinner surrounded with family on Christmas day. Many people locally have no family in town, or no family at all. Others are unable to afford a meal, especially for a family. Local meal providers such as Meals on Wheels and the Warming House are not open that day.

Bishop Richard J. Malone and Sister Mary McCarrick, OSF, diocesan director of Catholic Charities of Buffalo, have named Chancellor Emeritus Robert M. Bennett general chair for the 2018 annual appeal. Bennett's son, Andrew, and daughter, Maurine Bennett Falkowski, will serve as co-chairs, marking the first time in the appeal's 94-year history a family will serve as the campaign's top volunteer leaders.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY — Niagara University capped off its 2017 celebration of Vincentian Heritage Week by announcing the coordination of a partnership that will donate leftover food items from its dining halls to two of its nonprofit community partners.

Christmastime is always special at the Response to Love Center in Buffalo, and this year will be no different. Director Sister Johnice Rzadkiewicz, CSSF, is especially tuned in to what people need through prayer, and believes that her mission is to go where God is leading her. For the last few years, the focus has been on the specific needs of locals.

Deacon Miguel Santos has been to hell and back. He saw death, destruction and despair during a two-week stay in Houston while offering relief to the victims of Hurricane Harvey. He has also seen strangers helping strangers, and people forgoing aid because others need it more.

A recent family collaboration resulted in $200,000 to benefit Our Lady of Victory Organizations via their ongoing capital campaign. The campaign, entitled The Campaign for "Father Baker's" ­- Continuing His Legacy of Caring, which started in 2012, has now reached $11.5 million of its $12 million goal to enrich the lives of people in the Western New York area. The capital campaign runs until Dec. 31.

LANCASTER — The Junior Ladies of Charity at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish collected 170 dolls this summer and presented them to a local missionary, Ann Marie Zon of Swormville, to be shipped to children in the Nicaragua Missions.

Armed with floor scrubbers, mops, gallons of soapy water, window cleaner and rolls of paper towels, members of One Jesuit Buffalo Alumni spent two days insuring that students at St. Monica School would have a bright campus when they began classes in September. Thirty volunteers from the Jesuit alumni group participated in the service project for the young women's campus of NativityMiguel Middle School of Buffalo, located in St. Lawrence Parish.

Catholic Charities of Buffalo announced today that construction for a renovation project to create a multiservice center in Niagara Falls will begin next month. Catholic Charities officials said the $2.4 million project is made possible in part through the generosity of three major funders: The James and Mary Glynn Family, the City of Niagara Falls and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

Recently, 4-and-a-half-year-old Giani Rizzo, of Williamsville, came scampering into the brightly-decorated classroom of the Mercy Speech Center to be greeted by Sister Maralynn Sciarrino, RSM, with a smile, hug and welcoming words.

Little Portion Friary, the quiet house on Main Street just a little north of Buffalo's Medical Campus, serves people in need. But right now, the friary has a need of its own - volunteers.

It's fascinating to think that the first social service organization brought to Buffalo by its first bishop is still around, going stronger than ever 170 years later. The St. Vincent de Paul Society came to the Diocese of Buffalo in 1847, just after Bishop John Timon was named its first bishop. Bishop Timon had heard of the charitable organization while visiting Ireland and brought it first to St. Louis, where he served in the late 1830s.

In the throes of addiction, not one facet of the victim's life is left unaffected. Everything from familial and personal relationships to daily tasks are impacted. Knowing that, the Chemical Dependency Treatment Program of Catholic Charities' Monsignor Carr Institute seeks to treat the whole person - both physically and mentally. Catholic Charities Chemical Dependency Treatment Program, housed at 76 W. Humboldt Parkway in Buffalo, is a New York state OASAS licensed outpatient program that provides services to adolescents, adults and families where substance use/abuse is an ongoing concern.

The road to recovery from drug addiction is lined with many hurdles and pitfalls. For the past five years, St. Bonaventure Parish in Allegany has worked with a counseling recovery service to provide a safe passage to sobriety.

Jesus was a refugee and friend of outcasts. What about you and me? Will we dare to follow in Jesus' footsteps?

Blood levels drop in the summer, so the Red Cross needs help. The blood donated from one person could mean the difference between life and death.

Located on the campus of Sisters Hospital on Main Street in Buffalo, the St. Catherine Laboure Health Care Center offers a full range of services to assist residents and patients in need of long-term care and rehabilitation. To assist those who wish to live at home and maintain their independence, while still receiving needed services to remain healthy, the center's Adult Day Health Care Program offers a place for adults of all ages to socialize and receive care for several hours per day in a controlled environment.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America awarded nearly $4 million in funding in the form of 244 grants to support the pastoral work of the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean, and nearly $2 million in funding for continued reconstruction in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The grants were approved at the Subcommittee's meeting on June 12 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The gift of a building from a Youngstown businessman will allow the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to resume retail operations in Niagara Falls.

As jubilarians, we welcome and thank all who come to celebrate with us today: Bishop Richard J. Malone, our family and friends, priests concelebrating, and all who have supported us along our way to this day.

Catholic Charities of Buffalo's In-School Social Work Program was the recent recipient of a $411,000 grant from Fidelis Care, the New York State Catholic Health Plan.

WASHINGTON—Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, reacted strongly to the revised Senate health reform bill, the "Better Care Reconciliation Act" (BCRA).

PERRY - Catholic Charities of Buffalo began a new chapter on June 12 as the agency celebrated the grand opening of its Wyoming County office on the campus of Community Action for Wyoming County in Building #1, 6470 State Rt. 20A, Perry. About 25 guests attended the event, including Sister Mary McCarrick, OSF, Catholic Charities' diocesan director, and Father Richard Blazejewski of St. Isidore Parish in Perry, who blessed the office.

Reverend Monsignor David S. Slubecky, vicar general and moderator of the curia of the Diocese of Buffalo, announced this morning the 2017 Appeal in support of Catholic Charities of Buffalo met and exceeded its $11 million goal. After a very challenging Appeal, officials expressed gratitude for the incredible parish, community and corporate support, especially last-minute gifts, which brought the campaign total to $11,069,168.36.

WASHINGTON—The President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston as well as the Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, and Chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, John F. Kelly, urging him to defer deportation of those persons to Iraq, particularly Christians and Chaldean Catholics, who pose no threat to U.S. public safety.

A final push for the Catholic Charities Appeal 2017.

Catholic Charities of Buffalo began a new chapter on Monday, June 12, as the agency celebrated the grand opening of its Wyoming County office on the campus of Community Action for Wyoming County in Building #1, 6470 State Rt. 20A, Perry. About 25 guests attended the event, including Sister Mary McCarrick, Catholic Charities' diocesan director, and Father Richard Blazejewski of St. Isidore's Parish in Perry, who blessed the office.