Christians in Action

Our Mission:
Believing that we cannot proclaim a gospel we do not live, we dedicate our activities to promoting the welfare of those in need of comfort, shelter and food and, through education and action, to working for justice and peace.
 
CIA Prayer:
Dear Lord, you are the light that brings us together. We thank you for the gifts that you have given each of us to do your work. Help us to remember our blessings and to recognize the needs of your people. Grant that our minds and hearts are open to your will and give us the wisdom to know how we can serve you. In the spirit of St. Clare, may we respond with charity and love. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Meetings:
CIA members (below) invite you to join us as we meet the second Tuesday of each month, from 7-8 p.m. Contact Gordon at 832-580-8006 for information.


General Information:
CIA is accepting calls for emergency outreach assistance and is working with Interfaith Caring Ministries to assist those in need. If you know of anyone in local zip codes 77058, 77059, 77062, 77565, 77573, 77586 and 77598 who needs short-term, critical help with rent or utilities, please have them leave a message at 713-530-7452, from Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon. Volunteers will return calls and offer help as available.

Please complete and submit one of these forms.

English     Spanish

 
CIA members and other parishioners continue to feed the local homeless in partnership with local charity The Mercy Tree. Volunteers bring prepared food from a specific menu to TMT workers, who then box lunches for recipients. In addition, on a second day each month, CIA uses donations to purchase boxed lunches for TMT clients. For information on St. Clare’s participation, contact Nancy at 281-286-4548.

Projects/Events, Jan.-March:
The annual Lenten Box Project will begin the weekend of Feb. 28-March 1, with CIA members handing out lists of needed items after all masses. The project helps clients of Casa Juan Diego, a local Catholic shelter. You can help by filling a small box with items for infants, children, women or men. Items include toiletries, underwear and stationery. Specific lists of suggested items will be available in March. In addition to being handed out, these lists will be posted on the CIA bulletin board. Donations will be collected through Lent. For more information, contact Gordon at 281-461-6982.
 
CIA members will sponsor a Desserts for Donations fundraiser at the Knights of Columbus BBQ dinner on Feb. 7 in the Family Life Center. Other desserts fundraisers will be held Fridays during Lent, at the Knights’ fish fry dinners. Donations will go to local charities. Thanks for your support. 

Recent Efforts:
Your fourth-quarter charity was amazing! You supported two parish-wide Thanksgiving Projects that help feed the poor. Food gifts helped 38 local senior citizens identified by Interfaith Caring Ministries, in the Thanksgiving Adopt-a-Senior Project. For the second project, the Thanksgiving Food Drive, you donated 165 boxes of food, shared by the Galveston County Food Bank and Clear Lake Food Pantry, to provide for the area hungry. Thanks for your participation.
 
In the Spirit of Christmas Project, you shared Christmas blessings with the underprivileged from two organizations, Casa Juan Diego and Hope Active. You made Christmas special by giving gifts many of us consider ordinary, including 
jackets, jeans, underwear, and toiletries, to clients of local Catholic shelter CJD. For Hope Active, you “adopted” 41 at-risk school children and met their wishes, and provided gifts for many more, from our “Angel Tree.” Thank you. 
 
For the Christmas Card Collection, you gave more than 1,300 Christmas cards for 
the use of clients at three organizations: The Seafarer's Center of Galveston, St Dominic Village in Houston and Parsons House in La Porte. Again, thank you.

Thank You So Much:
St Clare’s Christians in Action members gratefully thank all parishioners for your support of our outreach efforts in 2025. Your caring and generous response to these activities ensured that St. Clare parishioners assisted the less fortunate of our community. With your support, CIA was able to: 
 

• Give critical, emergency financial assistance for rent and utilities to 281 clients, for a total of more than $93,000,
• Provide lunch (and needed personal supplies) for homeless clients of The Mercy Tree 24 times during the year,
• Surprise 100 senior Meals-on-Wheels clients with Valentine treat bags, 
• Donate 225 boxes of toiletries and other needed supplies to clients of Casa Juan Diego in the Lenten Box Project,
• Support our hospitalized veterans with donations of 35 boxes of clothing and toiletries and $995 in gift cards,
• Offer solid support to underprivileged children at two Catholic schools, by giving 76 boxes of donations in the summer School Supplies Drive,
• Supply 165 boxes of food to the local hungry served by Galveston County Food Bank and CL Food Pantry in the Thanksgiving Food Drive,
• Support food needs of 38 local senior citizens in the Thanksgiving Adopt-a-Senior Project,
• Share Christmas blessings and gifts with numerous clients of Houston shelter Casa Juan Diego and many at-risk CCISD students in the Spirit of Christmas Project,
• Offer more than 2,800 free greeting cards year-round for the use of people at four organizations: nearby Carol S. Young Prison, St. Dominic Village, the Seafarer’s Center of Galveston and residents of Parsons House assisted living facility in LaPorte.
• Support worthy local charities through donations of more than $5,000 from Desserts for Donations fundraisers, and 
• Provide ongoing food donations to the St. Bernadette and Clear Lake food pantries and recycle used eyeglasses and postage stamps to assist non-profit groups.

 
Ongoing Support:
Because parishioner contributions to CIA’s monthly envelope pay for nearly all of CIA’s financial emergency outreach assistance to the needy, we humbly request your continued support. To donate, please use your monthly envelope entitled CIA Aid to the Poor and Needy. It is collected the fourth weekend of each month. If you don’t have an envelope, just note “for CIA” at lower left on your check. Thank you for making a difference to those in need.
 
Link your Kroger Plus Card to KM540 and St. Clare’s Christians In Action will earn money to help clients who need emergency outreach assistance. Link your card only once, either at a store customer desk or by visiting www.Kroger.com.
 
If you have questions, please call Gordon at 832-580-8006.

updated 12.23.25/cks