Valairco Cares About the IHM Food Pantry

BIG THANKS to Valairco Heating & Cooling for their generous donation for the IHM Food Pantry. Food donations are very helpful. But monetary donations like these can be used for bulk food purchases that will enable us to feed more people in need. The Pantry Gang gave the Valairco team a tour of our facility and a quick demo of our operations. It was very informative and beneficial. BIG THANKS to the Valenti Family and everyone at Valairco! Family owned and operated solutions for heating and cooling. https://www.valairco.com/

Backpack Challenge 2026

#goodnews Kindness 4 Kids of Union County would like to thank the community of IHM parish for their overwhelming generosity. The volume and quality of the backpacks and school supplies donated was incredible and very  much appreciated.

Every one of the backpacks was designated for a specific child in the foster care system in Union County. We were given lists of the children’s ages, genders and grades so that each child received what they needed. The DCP&P case workers are currently distributing the backpacks to their families this week. The joy that you all created by your generosity for these young kids is truly a blessing. Who doesn’t remember the excitement and joy of going back to school with all that shiny new stuff!

As we conclude 14 years of providing back to school supplies to children in foster care, I could not be more proud and grateful for your unwavering support and generosity.

A special thank you to Gabe in the office for his tireless work on promoting this and all of our outreach programs at IHM.

Sincerely
Geraldine Keogh

Serving Meals at St. John's Soup Kitchen

#goodnews BIG THANKS to our amazing volunteers for serving meals at St. John's Soup Kitchen. IHM has been assigned a monthly opportunity to serve the homeless at St. John's Soup Kitchen in Newark. Our assigned slot is the first Tuesday of every month for the next 12 months. Next mission is Tuesday October 6, 2026.

We will need 5 volunteers for each date. We will arrange to leave from the Nazareth Center at 9:30 am and return 1:00 pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to help those in need. These events involve plating and serving lunches to over 250 men, women and children. Please let us know if you are available to help by checking-in below or call our office at 908-889-2100 if you need help. Thank you!

Emergency Blood Drive a Success!

#goodnews A successful blood drive! Thanks to @newyorkbloodcenter for partnering with our Fr. Nelligan Council 5730, Knights of Columbus to organize this drive. Thanks to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church for hosting and help with promotion. Thanks also to St. Bartholomew the Apostle Church, the Men's Cornerstone, the prayer groups and many people that helped promote the event and get a great attendance. Thanks to all the donors, without you the drive would not have been a success. Thank you!

Congratulations Katie Wills!!!

This is our very own Katie Wills receiving the Rising Voice Award from publisher, Wade Wisler at the OCP Publisher's dinner in Washington DC on Monday, July 20th. The inscription on her award is a beautiful reflection of her talent that we are blessed to enjoy every week here at IHM. 

“ Honoring an emerging composer, whose  talent, creatively and growing influence -are making a meaningful impact on the church’s song” 

Her success in getting several of her compositions selected for publication is inspiring. In addition Katie  has been invited on an all expenses paid trip out to the OCP headquarters in Oregon. She will be heading out August 17 - 21 and will be at OCP for the composer's visit on the 19th and 20th. We wish her a safe trip and continued prayers and support, we are so proud of her. 

IHM Teens Summer Service

#GoodNews

Last evening these incredible young people came together to help us make 300 Quiches and 100 Sandwiches for St John’s Food Kitchen in Newark. They chopped, sautéed and mixed all the ingredients efficiently and with great energy. It was a great experience for all of us, adults included. It was interesting to listen to them discuss amongst themselves their concerns and anxiety about moving to the high school. It felt like an opportunity that we should take advantage of getting them together with some of our high school kids to potentially answer questions for them. Letting them out into the gym afterwards to play basketball seemed to help them relax. They all seem to crave a connection to the parish and the ability to hang out with each other. Mary Frances was superb as always, sticking it out with me until after 10pm to get all the quiches baked off. We were both fried!

Thanks

G

Congratulations to the Crespo Family

“Witness the Convalidation wedding of Johanna and Eduardo Crespo on June 12,2026. Both were in the OCIA process this year to be fully initiated into the church. Although Eduardo finished this Easter, Johanna will complete her initiation next year. Congratulations to both! “

Heba Fortunato, Catechist

IHM Parish Feast 2026

Here's a quick peek at the IHM Parish Feast that happened this past weekend. As you can see, it was a great turnout! The weather was warm. The food was delicious. The Bobcats were rocking and rolling. BIG THANKS to our volunteer servers! BIG THANKS to the Bobcats for the live music! and BIG THANKS to all our guests for joining us!

Congratulations to the Santa Family!

Congratulations to the Santa Family! Our friend Carlos successfully completed his OCIA initiation to the Catholic faith. The next step was celebrating the sacrament of Matrimony at the IHM Adoration Chapel. It's a real-life love story! Blessings to the Santa family! If you are interested in getting Married at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church or Chapel, give us a call at 908-889-2100 or visit https://ihmparish.net/wedding

Confirmation 2026

Let us celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with our confirmation candidates this weekend! Through Confirmation, these young people are strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and called to live their faith more fully. Just as the Trinity is rooted in relationship and love, our confirmation candidates are reminded that they are deeply connected to God and to our parish community.

May the Holy Spirit guide them with wisdom and courage, and may they always know the love of the Father, the example of the Son, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CONFIRMATION CLASS OF 2026

Always remember the gifts of the Holy Spirit…

Sarah Amaro, Margaret Basuino, Lucas Blake, Bridget Burke, Declan Caspersen, Mason Cominski, Alyssa Da Cruz, Dean Dillon, Gabriella DiMaggio, William Frey, Olivia Gromek, Jade Maguire, Ava Maio, Ava Martinez, Ava McDonald, Daniella Mendes, Grace Mertz, Arabella Morabito, Bridget Morrow, Molly O’Grady, Juliana Pagano, James Rendeiro, Juliana Rendeiro, Gianna Rivera, Katlyn Valerio, Arianna Vigario