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Lantern Light Collaborative Ministry was featured in the April/May 2013 Issue of the Kiwanis International Magazine. Sister Vera is a member of the local Kiwanis group, Dawn Busters.
Read the article here or access the entire magazine here.

Top Row: Sisters Vera, Dolores, Anna and Enid
Middle Row: Natalie, N.D., Sister Mary Catherine, N.Y.; Meghan, Conn.; Francesca, N.J.; and Mary, Iowa
Bottom Row: Cady, Iowa, and Sister Rita, Iowa

Some great photos of the recent fish fry have been posted to Facebook. Here is the link: Fish Fry Photos!

Our Lenten Fish Fry on Friday March 1, 2013, was a huge success. Thanks to the time, talent and energy of several of the top chefs in New Orleans, we had a wonderful turn out. We topped our goal of 1200 dinners by 500. It was a great day!

Managing the large number of orders was an unbelievable task. God blessed us with a great group of efficient volunteers who took on this task. It was a fantastic day in so many ways. The weather was sunny and many who purchased a meal had the opportunity to sit out on the deck of the Rebuild Center in the sunshine to enjoy their meal.

The highlight of the day was the exchange that took place among the chefs, the volunteers, the Presentation Sisters and all those who came to support the event. Lantern Light was also blessed by the media who carried our story in the newspaper and on the radio on the TV.

Thank you to all from the Presentation Sisters.
Sister Anna, Sister Dolores, Sister Enid and Sister Vera

Thank you to top area chefs Jason Walters, Chuck Subra,  Rene Bajou, Yves Favier,  Robert Mitchell, Michael McGuire, Thorsten Leighty, Benjamin Sarrat, Matt Murphy, Justin Kennedy, Richard Bond, Andrew Shurlock and “Fireman” Mike Gowland, Tariq Hanna for their support of our upcoming Lenten Fish Fry!

A donation of $10 will get you a wonderful meal of fried catfish, baked macaroni, corn salad and banana foster! We are serving from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 1. There is also an option for take-out! Call 504.273.5573, extension 116, if you have questions or would like to pre-order your take out meals.

Click here Lenten Fish Fry 2013 for more details on the March 1 event.

John is a young man who presently is living with the Christian Brothers in New Orleans and working at Lantern Light. John has many hidden gifts. Here is a picture of him serving the morning snack which he made for our guests. He was serving French bread that he split, buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. John spends some of his mornings interacting with our guests and has mastered the task of making our unique triple-decker ham sandwiches.
John is from St. Clare’s Parish in Staten Island, N.Y. His family knows some of our Presentation Sisters in Staten Island.
We are grateful for John’s presence among us!

We are so grateful to St Peter Claver Church for sending us such wonderful people. Two examples of their wonderful support are below.

Carol Henry knitted a huge box of hats and delivered them on the last day before our Christmas break. The hats came in very handy when the temperature dropped and our guests enjoyed picking out a favorite color.

Kenitha Grooms Williams and her daughters, Haley and Alex Williams,
caroling at the Rebuild Center on Christmas Day 2012.

Turkey dinners are served in many centers in the city of New Orleans on Thanksgiving Day. We are closed that day but we do open on that Friday. This year we served 140 guests. The dinner was a gift from ZEA’s Restaurant I Metairie, LA.  This year we served roasted veal with gravy, fresh sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, a fresh spinach salad with all the trimmings – pecans, bacon, golden raisins and pepper- jelly dressing.   

A wonderful group of volunteers from Alan and Elizabeth Wolf’s family came to serve the meal.  Two Holy Faith Sisters, Nancy Hale and Pauline O’Reilly also lent a hand to make it a special occasion for all.  So often it is in giving that we receive so much.

Please join us in supporting the mission of Lantern Light, Inc., and give yourself a chance to win over $1000 in cash prizes.

Lantern Light was established in 2005 to provide services for the homeless and working poor in New Orleans. We continue this mission today with your support. Since Hurricane Katrina, our numbers have grown. We now serve lunch to 170-225 guests a day, Monday through Friday. In addition to meeting our guests basic needs we help them get birth certificates, state ID cards and some prescriptions. We also have a mail room if they need an address for receiving mail.

With each ticket in our Christmas fundraiser, you could win anywhere from $25 to $250 on a single day during the month of December 2012 (see calendar below). The daily drawings take place at Lantern Light and winning tickets are re-entered for all the remaining drawings. Checks for the winning tickets will be mailed to the winners. Deadline for all entries is November 30, 2012, and tickets are $10 for 1 ticket or $25 for 3 tickets.

Christmas calendar 2012

2012 Christmas tickets

Please print our the tickets above, complete the information and return them with your donation. Please make all checks payable to Lantern Light and mail you tickets and donation to:

Call (504)273-5573 if you have questions.

In my final semester of grad school, I knew what I needed during my week break. I needed somewhere I could go, forget about the stresses of life, regroup, and refocus on what is important in life. It only took a moment to realize where I needed to be…Lantern Light in New Orleans. It just came across my mind one day and it just made sense. There is something special about the Rebuild Center and Lantern Light. It is a place that feels like home to so many people, myself very much included. I have found many friends at Lantern Light between the guests, Sisters, and volunteers. It never ceases to amaze me when one of the guests remembers me even when I this is only my third trip to visit the Center.

I had the opportunity to celebrate St. Vincent DePaul’s feast day at St. Joseph’s and then continue the celebration at Lantern Light after mass. Lantern Light has a welcoming, homey feel during the day, but at night it truly feels magical. There is so much love and beauty seen in the guests and volunteers during the day, but at night you can feel it in the air. The smiles on people’s faces, the laughter from the benches, the stories being shared, it is easy to see why people enjoy coming to Lantern Light. One of the guests asked me, “There are homeless all over the US, why aren’t you helping the homeless where you are from? Why are you here?” It was an easy answer for me. There is something special about Lantern Light, which draws you in and makes it different than other places. I feel completely at home at Lantern Light. It is a place to feel safe, to see a smiling face, share a story, or lend a helping hand. The people who come to Lantern Light are often referred to as guests, however I felt more like a guest than a volunteer. I was able to visit with so many people, the sisters, the guests, volunteers, deacons, and students, and hear their stories. I found myself asking the same question I was asked. They all had a very similar answer. There is something special about Lantern Light: you can find Jesus anywhere you look. Lantern Light is somewhere I believe Jesus would come to spend time for similar reasons I came to New Orleans. Lantern Light is a place where age, race, culture, religion, and economic status have no divides. Whether you are there to receive mail, medications, birth certificates, groceries, identification, serve a meal, pour drinks, or trying to find more meaning to your life, Lantern Light is a place to find Christ, peace, and many friends.