As many of you are aware, St. Ambrose Church and School have developed a parish-school partnership with St. Thomas the Apostle Church and School in Long Beach, Mississippi. Located in an area hard hit by hurricane Katrina, both the church and school of this parish have been completely devastated.  A committee has been established, here at St. Ambrose, to help some of the parishioners through this Christmas season, who have lost absolutely everything.

St. Ambrose Church and School will be "adopting" 10 St. Thomas parish families who are in greatest need this Christmas. We will provide each family with one or more gift cards to some of the stores still open in their county. Gift cards will allow them to buy exactly what they need, require almost no shipping cost and will restore a sense of pride and hope to people who have lost so much.

At School:

• Each classroom will receive a family name, with the name and ages of the children.
• Each morning through December the students will include this family in their morning prayers.
• Each student will be asked to make a contribution toward a class gift card for the family.

At Church:

• Family names will be published in the weekly bulletin.
• Please include these families in your prayers at church and at home.
• Angels with the family names will be placed on the angel tree for gift card purchases.
• Cash donations for the purchase of gift cards will be accepted at the church and school office.

We will also gladly accept any donations of gift cards from the following stores: Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, Bed/Bath and Beyond and J.C. Penney.

On Monday, December 19th, the gift cards will be combined and shipped out to the adopted families.

Thank you, everyone, for your support in this project. These 10 families deserve our efforts and kindness to restore some hope and happiness in their lives.