October 2, 2022

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Mary Our Queen Home and School will host the 12th Annual Mustang March this Friday, October 7, 2022.  With almost 600 students in Pre-K through Junior High, the Mustang March is the main school fundraiser with 100% of the revenue going directly to MOQ school, providing important resources for students, teachers and MOQ families.

This year we are raising money for our outdoor classrooms, peaceful playground AND replacing the rubber mulch under the playground with a rubber mat. Our theme is Let’s Play – Creating Spaces Where Education can Feed the Imagination!  For more details please go to https://moqschool.org.

We started the replacement of the HVAC units for our Church and Cafeteria last Wednesday with the removal of the boiler pipes.  It will take about a month to a month and a half to have the new units installed.  From Monday onwards, there will be no air conditioning in our Church until the new units are installed.  Please be patient with us.  These units were put out to bid earlier this year in January.  As mentioned previously, the current air handlers for the Church and the Cafeteria date back to the time when it was first built in the 1960s and the condenser units are over 20 years old.  We wanted to be proactive in replacing these units.  We were initially told that the new units would arrive in November.  Fortunately the units arrived and we are now having it installed.  We were originally budgeting the replacements to be about $150,000.  Unfortunately, the replacement bid of the HVAC project was $346,600.  We secured a loan from the Archdiocese to be paid over a 10-year period.  We are in the midst of planning a minor capital campaign in the next few weeks to address this and other needs of our Parish.

The chairs and the kneelers in the Tabernacle Chapel have been sent to be re-finished/re-upholstered.  We were initially going to replace the furniture however after taking a second look at the furniture, we changed our minds as the wood of the furniture is still in good condition.  What it needed is for the chairs to be reglued together and stained with the seat and kneelers reupholstered.

The 2022 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal is beginning in our parish. You will receive an invitation from Archbishop Lucas to support the work of the Church through a personal commitment. The Annual Appeal supports the parishes, schools, and ministries across the archdiocese. I hope you will join me in making a gift to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. Our financial goal for this year’s Annual Appeal is $138,501.91 and our participation goal is 20%. As disciples of Jesus, we are invited to trust, to let go of fear and open our minds and hearts to God’s saving work. What is holding you back from sharing your gifts?

God’s Blessings,

Fr Marc