Immaculate Heart of Mary sets teriyaki lunch benefit

A special teri-beef plate lunch sale Saturday, April 5, will raise funds to send a contingent from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Papaikou to the 2015 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, presented annually by the Archdiocese of L.A. Office of Religious Education.

Teri-beef plate lunches can be purchased from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. that day, said chairman Jimmy Pratt, but presale tickets for $10 a plate are now available from any of the 12 delegates or by calling the church office at 964-1240.

More than 14,000 youths attend “Youth Day,” which opens the congress each year, and more than 40,000 attendees from around the world register for the three-day LA Congress hosted in Anaheim, Calif.

The LA Congress is open to persons of all religions and offers a broad range of speakers and topics, exhibits, displays, prayer services, eucharistic liturgies and workshop presentations. This year’s LA Congress was March 13-16.

For the parishioners at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Papaikou, the children in the Religious Education programs K-12 reaped the benefits when coordinators Inez Johnson and Oarlene Wingate attended in March 2012.

They returned and shared their knowledge, encouraging others to attend by supporting fundraising efforts to send more catechists in 2013.

Seven catechists who teach students in grades 6-12, including preparation for confirmation, were able to attend in 2013 — Kesha Kubo, Callie Villanueva, Tasha Haimoto-Leite, Jimmy Pratt Jr., Reynard Galdones, Herminia Villanueva and Joseph O’Connell.

This year, a series of fundraising efforts is planned to send catechists and youths to the congress in March 2015.

“We hope to inspire, and energize the entire parish community,” Wingate said.

Plans include the teri-beef plate sale in April, a rummage sale in May, a Maebo Wonton Chips sale, a car wash, a Christmas poinsettia sale and a holiday bake sale and vendor craft sales.