Parishioners from St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church donated more than $500 worth of baby clothes and items to the Futures Family Resource Program through Project Dresser.
"For us at Futures, this means a great deal," said Futures program co-ordinator Lorise Cablik. "We work with a lot of young parents - our target population is teen parents, and many of them do not have the resources to be able to get some of the stuff that was donated. For us, it's really nice to be able to give them a little care package."
"The other part, that I think people don't recognize, is that it helps them feel supported," she continued. "To know there's a group that says 'you know what, you made a decision - we may not agree with that decision, however, we do want to support you so that you can raise your child to the best of your ability' - people really don't recognize how important that is to them. It means a lot to our girls."
Futures offers services and support for young mothers - generally age 25 or younger - in Thompson, and recently opened a room in R.D. Parker Collegiate to be used by R.D. Parker students who are also mothers.
"The Knights of Columbus are always happy to help out in the community in whatever way we can, whether it's with Project Dresser or helping at the homeless shelter - whatever it is, it's our Christian duty as Catholics to help out in our community as much as we can," said Grand Knight Troy Paul. "Hopefully these things that we provided to Futures will help some families in need."
Paul praised the efforts of volunteers such as Jim and Atalia Hickey as the real catalysts behind Project Dresser, which has been running in Thompson for nearly 10 years. "It's really Jim and Atalia that did all the work," he said. "If it wasn't for them, I'm sure that this very productive and beneficial project wouldn't happen."
