Your 175 Actions

Mid-Atlantic Community Associate Leadership
Merion, Pennsylvania

The Community Leadership Team will share their reflections with each other on the below questions after each of our ALT and CLT meetings:

1. How have we been powerless and what did that powerlessness mean for us?

Sisters at the Intersection Inc., McKeesport, Pennsylvania

(Malachy "Peg" O'Neill, Dorothy Miller, Phyllis Thompson, Bonnie Heh)

Van Buren Community
St. Louis, Missouri

We will be sending toiletry bags to Haiti.

Also, we are randomly selecting 175 people we've served throughout the year and sending "e-cards," thanking them for allowing us to "strengthen our relationships" with them through service.

St. Xavier University, Records and Advising
Chicago, Illinois

• One FYE section has decided to focus on The Earth and Service to the poor. They as a class will pick up any litter they see it and keep track of how many pieces they individually pick up and report off each week in class until they reach a total of 175. They are also going to bring spare change to class each week and donate the money to the Gwynedd mercy Focus on Haiti project. (Faculty’s personal commitment will be to donate the remainder amount to equal $175.00.)
• Hobbit House (our littlest students) are doing 175 acts of kindness, love and sharing by collecting 175 little boxes of cereal (single serving then giving them to Catherine's Cupboard (CC)!
• The field hockey family is thrilled to participate in this exciting endeavor and will be collecting fun toys, hair ribbons, etc for the children in the Dominican Republic (DR).
• The ABSN cohort that is going to the DR is collecting 175 flip flops to bring with them.
• The second ABSN cohort is providing 175 feminine supply packages to send to the Dominican Republic.
• The School of Education is collecting 175 school supplies to send to the DR and Business is collecting 175 school supplies for Laurel House.
• The School of Arts and Science is collecting 175 non-perishable items for Catherine’s Cupboard.
• The Occupational Therapy students are teaming up with the M&V project to learn to crochet for use with their clients and will contribute to the 175 prayer square.
• School of Graduate and Professional Studies is sending out to all of adjunct instructors and students a request to donate to their communities if they are not local to our campus. We are asking they post a picture of them doing so on social media and include #GMercyU175 and @gmercyu_gps so we can keep track as they aim for 175 donations.
• The Psychology and Social Services Association (P&SSA) will share 175 inspirational messages/quotes on campus via notes to peers, sticky notes, etc.
• A new freshman at Gwynedd Mercy University will be holding the door open for 175 people.
• The student group that went to the Mercy DC Justice Advocacy training this summer will collect 175 signatures in support of fair immigration policy.

CONGRATULATIONS on the anniversary! The student government representatives have decided to do the following:

• Save 175 lives through blood donation Each successful blood donation can save three lives! We will aim to get 59 successful donations.
• Send 175 notes of positivity and encouragement - students will be asked from an info table to write supportive words of inspiration. The notes will be posted on campus during Finals week. SGA is proud to participate in the 175th Anniversary.
• This year for our S@C Gives Back Event, we are cosponsoring the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Event in November. Our idea is to collect 175 (or more!) items for Laurel House and present the items to Laurel House at this event. We are very excited to be a part of this amazing challenge!
• Student Activities and Leadership will collect 175+ plastic grocery bags during Woke Week so that they may be recycled appropriately.
• The Voices of Gwynedd will make a recording of 175 minutes of music. It will contain some of our best music from our 25 years! We will provide the CD's to the Sisters at McAuley Convent spreading the music of mercy!
• “Socks from Sigma” Sigma will collect 175 socks to send to the Dominican Republic.

• School of Graduate and Professional going to be physically collecting 175 non-perishable items for Catherine's Cupboard based on the list of needs that was recently sent out.
• To celebrate the 175th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh a librarian donated 175 items to the “Blessing Bags” collection sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. These bags will be distributed to the homeless in the city of Philadelphia. Her contribution included 168 bottles of water, 3 Chapsticks, and 4 nail clipper sets.
• Each member of the Executive Council will adopt 2 FYE classes and write words of welcome and encouragement to each of the students in those classes as well as make a personal visit to the two classes.
• A faculty member is going to make 175 baked goods items for her daughter's University of the Arts senior photography off-campus show (funded by the class) bake sales this fall.
• The Marketing and Enrollment team will engage in 175 Random Acts of Kindness for new and returning students on the Gwynedd Valley campus.
• Members of the Mission and Values Committee are donating 175 rolls of toilet paper for Catherine’s Cupboard and leading crocheting parties to crochet 175 prayer squares to be distributed to community members in times of need of prayer and support. (Thank you Carlow University for the idea.)
• IA will invite students to write thank-you notes to 175 donors at Thank a Donor Day in November.
• For the 175th anniversary, our archivist is making a display for the Author's event/Mercy Tea that will highlight the names of 175 Sisters of Mercy who have taught/worked at Gwynedd. It will be a poster-sized display that will hopefully become a web-based display as well.
• A faculty member is collecting 175 baby hats to donate to Project: Linus and/or A baby’s Breath. She will be calling on knitters and crocheters as well as hosting some "knitting circles" to work on them as well.
• The students in CIS 437, Topics in Cybersecurity, are going to design, print, and hand out 175 cards on password security to educate students, faculty, and staff on campus.
• A staff member will be visiting 175 patients at Parkhouse Nursing Facility to bring them a little cheer and a small gift. • A staff member and her family will be donating 175 packages of feminine products to CC and Manna on Main.
• A staff member will be visiting 175 patients at Parkhouse Nursing Facility to bring them a little cheer and a small gift.
• All offices in Campbell Hall have decided to join forces to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy by: Donating money to Sanctuary Farm: a community garden program in Philadelphia. Each donating $5.00 will provide the money for Sanctuary Farm to be able to buy 175 seedlings to benefit many families in need. Collecting 175 pairs of socks and sending them to the Socks of Joy foundation who will distribute them to the homeless. Collecting 175 sneakers to be recycled. Sending 175 golf balls with messages from the students, faculty and staff on them to Bunkers in Baghdad to be distributed to the troops as a morale booster. We will be asking students to write messages for the troops.
• Finance/Administration and HR will collect an abundance of manufacturer's coupons for military base families in need throughout the country, as well as overseas. As some families struggle financially with buying day-to-day products, we will be providing them assistance in their daily shopping for themselves and their families. Military families are permitted to use expired coupons so we will be able to provide them with a large amount of coupons.

With respect to strengthening our personal practice of nonviolence we:
1) Weekly prayed the daily Mass Responsorial Psalm for a specific intention of Nonviolence, eg. the abuse of women & children, gun control, etc.
2) Supported a local shelter for women and children by collecting personal items of need.

With respect to strengthening our relationships, will are communicating with other Sisters in Retirement Residences throughout our Institute.

Mercy Associate Marion Grimes
Hamburg, New York

We will plant 175 tree seedlings around the water basins that families use for their homes. Also fruit gardens for animals to eat, and trees that store water.

Sisters of Mercy at Rural House of Mercy
DuBois, Pennsylvania

Group of Friends
Omaha, Nebraska

Trocaire has sponsored these activities over the past semester in celebration of the Sister’s 175^th Anniversary:

• 175 Peace Flags made/hung during Mercy Heritage Week
• 175 Mercy-grams distributed across campus during Mercy Heritage Week.
• Ongoing planning with the JCC in Rochester to bring a professional production of “Church and State,” to Trocaire in the fall semester 2019. "Church and State" is a theatre production (including conversation with the audience) on gun control.

Blessings for a truly wonderful anniversary year celebrating 175 years of Mercy in the U.S.!