Some parishes plan to honor living and deceased dads in traditional ways - such as with spiritual bouquets and special Masses - but IHM represents a one of several faith communities that have been looking beyond celebrating their own fathers to remembering other fathers...and mothers. Two parishes, St. Rose of Lima, East Hanover, and St. Anthony, Hawthorne, raise money for pro-life activities and assistance to unwed mothers - all in the name of their own fathers, as well as the merciful example of God, the Father.
At IHM, the "Re-Gifts for Men" for Father's Day arrives just weeks after the Passaic County parish's re-gifting for women for Mother's Day. An assortment of parishioners; members of community at DePaul Catholic High School, also in Wayne; and other locals donated about 250 items for women in need, more than the 20 or so items collected for the men. Women had received clothing; shoes; accessories, such as bracelets; and "nice gifts" of high quality, such as Coach pocketbooks and Swarovski jewelry, Edie said.
"The items are stuff that's in style," said Edie, who noted that IHM also holds an items drive for Christmas.
In response, IHM often receives heart-felt "thank-you" notes from the social-service agencies that receive the donations. In the past, these organizations have included Straight & Narrow, a diocesan substance-abuse treatment center, Eva's Shelter and the Child Life Program of St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, all in Paterson; Several Sources, which serves unwed mothers in Bergen County; and the federal Women, Infants and Children food assistance, health care and nutrition program, Edie said.
St. Rose is all about the baby bottles for its annual Father's Day fund-raiser, organized by the parish's Respect Life Ministry. On Mother's Day, parishioners picked up the 400 available baby bottles and returned them, filled with monetary donations of coins, bills or checks, to the church on Father's Day. Donations provide free bus transportation in January for the annual March for Life in Washington or Trenton and support crisis pregnancy centers and invited guest speakers, said Anne Marie Gillespie, coordinator of the six-year-old drive.
"We remember the mothers, but we want to remember the fathers too," said Gillespie, who recalled, when a woman donated some money left behind in a house that she purchased, remembering when she struggled as a single mother. "Some families fill up multiple bottles. The kids take their own bottles to fill. It's lovely," she said.