St. Peter Claver Society

12/10/2022

Advent See's Candies and African Coffee Sale

The St. Peter Claver Society (SPCS) will be selling delicious See’s Candies and African coffee after weekend Masses, starting 4 December. Buy early, supplies are limited. All proceeds will go to help make a future possible for a needy Zambian child. SPCS is currently funding the construction of an agricultural training center. The Cardinal Mazombwe Training Center, located in a rural area of the
Livingstone Diocese, will train young Zambians in farming skills so that they will be able to avoid migrating to urban areas.
Photos of CMTC classrooms under construction

Inside the new classroom. Classroom construction nearly complete

11/08/2022

The St. Peter Claver Society
2022 See's Online Candy Sale
Here is a sweet way to help African orphans and also do some Christmas shopping. Your See's candy order can be shipped within the contiguous U.S, Alaska and Hawaii. Orders over $70.00 ship for free. The deadline for ordering is 2 December. All profits go to assist African orphans or other vulnerable children and youth in Zambia.
To order use this link: https://www.yumraising.com/secure/stpcs_st_peter_claver_society_mclean5/Marsma4897/candy

09/09/2022

St. Peter Claver's Feast Day,
September 9th

09/09/2022

On the feast day of our patron saint, we are pleased to report that construction of the Cardinal Mazombwe Life Skills and Agricultural Centre (CMTC) is well underway with the building of the classroom block and staff house. None of this would be possible without our donors ongoing generous financial support and prayers.

11/08/2021

The St. Peter Claver Society
2021 See's Online Candy Sale
Here is a sweet way to help African orphans and also do some Christmas shopping. Your order can be shipped within the contiguous U.S, Alaska and Hawaii. The deadline for ordering is 3 December.

Thank you for supporting the St. Peter Claver Society, McLean! We'll receive all profits from any items you purchase below. Order more to help us reach our fundraising goal!

09/09/2021

St. Peter Claver's Feast Day, September 9

September 9th is the feast day of St. Peter Claver (1580-1634), the patron saint of African missions. He was born in Spain, joined the Jesuits and went to the missions in Cartagena, in Colombia, which was then the center of the slave trade. Peter ministered for nearly 40 years to the newly arrived Africans with food, water, medicine, and the gospel.
According to Franciscan Media, Fr. Peter Claver's apostolate extended beyond his care for slaves. He became a moral force, indeed, the apostle of Cartagena. He preached in the city square, gave missions to sailors and traders as well as country missions, during which he avoided, when possible, the hospitality of the planters and owners and lodged in the slave quarters instead.
Peter Claver died on September 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at his solicitude for the black outcasts, ordered that he should be buried at public expense and with great pomp.

07/08/2021

The Cardinal Mazombwe Technical Center Groundbreaking Ceremony
On July 2, 2021 an official Groundbreaking Ceremony was held to kick-off the construction of an agricultural skills center consisting of two classrooms, a dormitory for boys and one for girls, and a house for the teachers. The St. Peter Claver Society will be fulfilling its mission of carrying out the late Cardinal Mazombwe's vision of a rural center that will train young Zambians in agricultural skills , so that they will be able to support themselves and their families and avoid migrating to urban areas where they would encounter numerous challenges.

07/01/2021

A New Ambitious Building Project

Help us make a dream come true for African children in need

Zambia’s first Cardinal, His Eminence Medardo Mazombwe, had a dream before his death in 2013: to build an agricultural training center where disadvantaged young people would be prepared for adulthood and learn the skills necessary for rural agricultural activities, thereby avoiding the many problems accompanying urban migration. For the past number of years the St. Peter Claver Society, with your help, has been working to make that dream come true. We are committed to helping build the Cardinal Mazombwe Life Skills and Agricultural Training Centre with two classrooms, a dormitory for boys and one for girls, and a teacher’s house, along with hiring instructors and developing hands-on training opportunities. SPCS has partnered with the Livingstone Diocese’s Development and Livelihoods Department, managed by CARITAS, which has experience in developing similar schools. With the support of a local committee in Makunka parish, construction has started on a 59-acre property donated by the parish.

Much of this ambitious project is being financed by funds reserved from our initial attempt to build the center in the Lusaka Diocese, but the escalating costs of construction have still left us short of the projected costs. All funds raised in this year will be devoted to closing the gap.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY.

DONATIONS MAY BE MAILED TO ST JOHN THE BELOVED CATHOLIC CHURCH,
6420 LINWAY TERRACE
McLean, VA 22101
OR ON OUR WEBSITE: www.saintpeterclaversociety.org

06/08/2021

THANK YOU GENEROUS DONORS and FRIENDS

With your purchases of See’s chocolates, Christmas amaryllis, Zambian coffee, participation in our fundraisers, and many, many donations over the years you have helped hundreds of orphans, disabled children and disadvantaged youth in Africa live fuller, safer and healthier lives.
The St. Peter Claver Society was founded in 2003 as a parish-based charitable organization of St. John the Beloved Catholic Church dedicated to providing financial support for African orphans and disadvantaged youth, many of whom have lost their parents to the AIDS epidemic. The Society is named for the Spanish Jesuit priest who devoted his life to laboring for the salvation of African slaves and the abolishment of the slave trade in the early 17th century. Since its founding, the St. Peter Claver Society has raised $400,000 in support of its mission.
St. John the Beloved Catholic Church, 6420 Linway Terrace, McLean, Virginia 22101
Several of our members have traveled to Zambia at their own expense to see firsthand how your generosity is making an impact on so many lives. Your contributions have provided funding for care-givers and food programs at St. Anthony’s Children’s Village in Ndola Province in the middle of Zambia’s copper belt. Run by Dominican Sisters, St. Anthony’s provides care for about 100 infants and children, as well as many young adults with special needs. This care includes housing, health care, nutrition, education and rehabilitation services. At the Mulele Mwana Skills Centre in Zambia’s capital city of Lusaka your contributions have provided high-protein meals to hundreds of children and have underwritten a variety of training programs to help young people become self-sufficient. At the Cardinal Mazombwe Farm, located 75 miles from Lusaka, your support has financed scholarships for several students pursuing higher education and has helped provide livestock and facilities for early efforts at developing an agricultural training center for young people. This latter initiative was recently moved to the Diocese of Livingstone where plans have been finalized for the new Cardinal Mazombwe Agricultural and Life Skills Training Centre. The St. Peter Claver Society welcomes your interest and your support. . Please feel free to email [email protected] for additional information.

03/12/2021

Beautiful Nancy
Nancy is now living at St. Anthony Children’s Village where she receives loving care and is thriving. Nancy is a disabled orphan who was left with her grandmother. Unfortunately, her grandmother had a severe drinking problem and was unable to properly take care of Nancy. Nancy was badly neglected when she was brought to St. Anthony’s, where she will be a long-term resident because she is unable to take care of herself. There are over 60 children and adults with special needs who are cared for at St. Anthony’s, located in Ndola, Zambia. They regularly receive rehabilitative care from a physical therapist. To donate to the care of Nancy and other orphans, please go to saintpeterclaversociety.org.

02/02/2021

Siblings Improving Since Coming to St. Anthony Children's Village

When St. Anthony Children's Village was established in May 2003, the majority of children were HIV infected, their mothers having died from AIDS. However, with the availability of ARV's (anti-retroviral drugs) for adults and children, more mothers are able to live and care for their children. Currently, St. Anthony's has increased the number of vulnerable children it welcomes to include those who have been abandoned by their families, or whose mothers are incapable of caring for them, and especially those with special needs. St. Anthony's provides both physical and emotional support to these children in a loving and caring community. As needed, the kids receive physiotherapy by a qualified physiotherapist. The St. Peter Claver Society, which has supported St. Anthony's since 2004, raised the necessary funds to purchase the physiotherapy equipment.
Siblings, James and Chikondi, are not orphans, but their extremely poor parents locked them in a house without food. When James and Chikondi arrived at St. Anthony Children's Village, they were severely malnourished; Chikondi couldn't walk at all, and James was unable to walk straight. With proper nutrition and physiotherapy, they can now walk and are able to go to school. Donations are especially needed to address the impact of the pandemic. To donate go to www.saintpeterclaversociety.org.

11/05/2020

A "sweet" way to help African orphans - buy See's candy online through the St. Peter Claver Society. SPCS profits will support orphans in Zambia. Go to
https://www.yumraising.com/secure/stpcs_st_peter_claver_society30/candy?h=MarKus5683
and order before Dec. 4. Orders shipped starting Nov. 16; free delivery if over $65. Read about the SPCS's projects at www.saintpeterclaversociety.org Thank you!