Water that flows feeds trees that bear fruit: living water leads to flourishing land, flourishing land feeds hungry neighbors, and a fed community is a flourishing community.
Here’s why that matters close to home. The Bay Area is one of the wealthiest regions in the world — and yet many families right here in our own community still can’t put a nutritious meal on the table.
Pope Francis, in his letter Laudato Si’, reminds us that caring for the earth and caring for people go hand in hand. So this season, as we care for God’s creation, we’re also taking action to help our neighbors who are going hungry, right here in the Bay Area and worldwide.
“Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows… Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river… Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing, because this water flows from the sanctuary.”
— Ezekiel 47:9, 12
How We’re Helping Our Community Flourish
Many Ministries, One Shared Table
Community Garden
Grows fresh food for neighbors in need and for our weekly Tuesday lunches.
Contact: Michelle Nealon — greenteam@stsimon.org
Cross Catholic Outreach
A parish-wide service project taking on world hunger. Right now, an estimated 820 million people around the world don’t have enough to eat. This November, we’re partnering with Cross Catholic Outreach to pack 60,000 meals for children and families in developing countries — a hands-on, family-friendly way to live out the Corporal Work of Mercy to feed the hungry.
Get Involved! Nov. 7–8: Join us! We’re packing 60,000 meals.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: 1:00–4:00 pm
- Sunday, Nov. 8: 8:30–10:30 am or 10:30 am–12:30 pm
- Sign up now on Engage or learn more here
Contact: Bill Kozlovsky — kozsho@yahoo.com or communications@stsimon.org
Center for Farmworker Families (CFF)
A new collection, service partnership, and farm visit to support farmworker families in Watsonville, planned for Spring 2027 (see flag above). In Watsonville, farmworker families earn an average of $25,000 a year — well below the region’s poverty-level income of roughly $60,000. These are the hands that bring food to our own tables, often without enough left over for their own. Learn more about their story at the Center for Farmworker Families.
Get Involved!
- This spring, we’ll collect food, feminine and hygiene supplies, toiletries, paper products, and toys for farmworker families as part of our 800 Acts of Kindness drive.
- We’re hoping to organize a visit to meet farmworker families in person, if there’s enough interest from our community.
Contacts:
- Carla Macchello — cmacchello@sbcglobal.net
- Michelle Nealon — michellenealon@earthlink.net or greenteam@stsimon.org
Green Team
Creek clean-ups, water blessings, and care-for-creation themes woven through our Season of Creation Masses. Provides weekly tips and educational displays at Donut Sundays.
Contact: Michelle Nealon — greenteam@stsimon.org
Meal Ministry
Weekly Tuesday lunches prepared for our unhoused neighbors at the Opportunity Center in Palo Alto, with support from St. Simon Parish School.
Contacts:
- Moira Delumpa — moiraann64@gmail.com
- Vani Aboud, Vice Principal (school contact) — vaboud@stsimon.org
Men’s Group Outreach
Monthly Saturday breakfast for residents of LifeMoves “The Villa” shelter in San Jose, serving families and veterans in interim shelter.
Contact: Adrian Kok — adrian.kok@berkeley.edu
St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP)
Monthly food drives and the Christmas Giving Tree, helping local families, with support from St. Simon Parish School families.
Contact: Rose Mary Becker — wpbecker@att.net
Sunnyvale Community Center
New this fall/winter: volunteer to help pack and distribute food for families across the South Bay, in partnership with our Outreach & Social Justice Committee.
Contact: Michelle Nealon and the Outreach & Social Justice team — outreachsocialjustice@stsimon.org
Tijuana Ministry
Since 2005, Brothers and Sisters in Community Service (BASICS) and the Tijuana Ministry have provided an immersion experience to build homes for families in dire need and to minister to women, children, and teens in Tijuana’s La Morita area. With BASICS, we travel to Maria Inmaculada Parish in La Morita, about 20 miles from the US border, to build homes for families in need — in 2023, we built homes for three families, leaving a mark of God’s love with a multigenerational impact.
Contacts:
- Joan Mibach — jmibach@stsimon.org
- BASICS website — www.tijuanaministry.org
Key Dates
Sept. 5–6 — Season of Creation launches read more
Sept. 19 — Local pilgrimage to St. Francis of Assisi Parish, San Jose, celebrating the Franciscan Jubilee Year read more
Oct. 4 — Feast of St. Francis & Blessing of the Animals, 4:00 pm, on the grass near the Kinder Classrooms
Oct. 30–31 — Parish Retreat, “Flourish”
Nov. 7–8 — Cross Catholic Outreach Meal Packing read more
Nov. 19 — Turkey Bingo & SVdP Thanksgiving Collection
Dec. 5 — Christmas Tree Lighting, Christmas Concert, and the SVdP & Opportunity Center Giving Tree
Get Involved
Want to get involved in our Outreach & Social Justice efforts at St. Simon Parish? Please contact us at outreachsocialjustice@stsimon.org or fill in this form. We’d love to hear from you!
— Michelle Nealon, Chair, Outreach & Social Justice Committee