Open to the public, the Mass will be celebrated 12:30 p.m. in St. David the King Church, 1 New Village Rd., Princeton Junction. All Mercer County pastors have been invited to concelebrate; also invited to attend are the 805 members of the Guild. The Color Guard of the St. David the King Parish Council of Knights of Columbus will be present as well. Bishop O’Connell will impart a special blessing on all Mission Members in attendance.

“Our Founders’ Day Mass is a special day when Bishop blesses the care givers and the care receivers,” said Rosemary C. Kimball, MCG external affairs director. The parish in which the Founders’ Day Mass will be celebrated will alternate from year to year.
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“Mount Carmel Guild serves all of Mercer County, and in an effort to visit all of our contributing parishes we will select a new parish each year,” she explained. “Our intent is to visit all of our supporting parishes over the course of the next several years.” The 2021 Mass was hosted in Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Hamilton.

The occasion will be a celebration not only of the founding members of Mount Carmel Guild, but also of the current members’ support.

“Our Mission Members, whom I think of as care givers, offer support to those in need with basic care items in the Mercer County area – but do they really understand the impact of their donations?” Kimball elaborated. Among MCG patrons Kimball sees “moms dressed in scrubs and dads dressed in painter’s clothes – these are the working poor: people who have to choose between rent, utilities, clothing or food, people who work for a living but cannot make ends meet. With the help of our donors, food is one less hurdle to jump, one less area of concern.”

 Mount Carmel Guild began in 1920, with Bishop Thomas J. Walsh’s establishment of the social service agency – an outgrowth of his work with the needy during his priesthood in Buffalo, N.Y. When the National Recreation Service – a diversion for the armed forces – was dissolved after World War I, the remaining funds were divided among the Jewish, Protestant and Catholic faith communities. The grant Bishop Walsh received from the National Catholic War Council allowed for the purchase of the Guild’s headquarters in Trenton – an Italianate structure on North Clinton Avenue. Within three months MCG began serving a variety of needs in the community, including visiting patients in hospitals and inmates in prisons, collaborating with the USO, providing legal assistance and contributing to both secular and religious education.

In 1941 the Guild began its nursing service program, which continues today as its Home Health Nursing program aiding older individuals. The Guild’s second major endeavor, the Community Support Program, provides emergency food, utilities and prescription assistance to prevent homelessness. The Guild’s mission statement is, “Through relationships and collaborations forged with dignity and hope, the Guild assists the community to overcome challenges to decent health, nutrition, housing and education.”

“On those occasional days when we can offer coats to warm the kids, flowers to brighten their faces or cakes to sweeten the day,” Kimball said, “they are little reminders that we can and do make an impact on the health and safety of our neighbors – one bag, one bouquet, one coat at a time.”

For more information contact Rose Kimball, [email protected].