Adding Up to Something Great

The students at St. Bernadette School, Bensonhurst, outdid themselves by earning $10,607.15 in pledges for the St. Jude Math-a-Thon, a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Seventh-graders Matthew Grado and Kimberly Nicolucci hold the weighty check along with Sylvia Anna Nomikos, coordinator of the Math-a-Thon.

The Good Shepherd Catholic Club Ladies Auxiliary, Marine Park, presents It’s Not Just Bingo! on Friday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m.

There will a Chinese auction, raffles, lotto and 50/50 at the K. of C. Hall at 3051 Nostrand Ave.

$15 admission includes Bingo cards and refreshments. For tickets, call Erin Monahan at 718-252-4642.

Community hospitals need your help. Come to the Blood Drive hosted by Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Queens Village, on Sunday, April 27, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Bring a valid ID to Stewart Hall cafeteria, 92-96 220th St. Donors must be age 16-76. Free cholesterol testing for all donors!

For more information, call Sister Christine Cusati, 718-479-0924.

March may be over but there is still plenty of Irish music and dancing to enjoy. Pete Kelly’s Ceili Band will play for the Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens’ Ceili on Friday, April 18 at 8 p.m. $15 includes coffee, tea and Irish soda bread.

On April 20, enjoy the New York Show Band and dinner starting at 5 p.m. followed by dancing till 10 p.m. $50.

The hall is located at 297 Willis Ave., Mineola. For information, call 516-746-9392.

This Week’s Tip of The TabletTalk Top Hat goes to Gianna Petraglia, a third-grader at Our Lady of Grace School, Howard Beach. Gianna is sporting a new shorter hairstyle these days.

In January she had her long locks shorn and donated them for making wigs for children who have lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy treatments. Her hair was donated to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths for cancer patients.

In recognition of her unselfishness, Gianna was presented with a Principal’s Award for Outstanding Christian Values at an assembly during Holy Week.

All members of the Filipino community in the diocese are invited to monthly Mass in Tagalog at St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights, on the third Sunday of each month at 1:30 p.m. Come join them in the lower church.

For more information, call 718-429-2333.

The annual Spring Singles Dance hosted by Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Singles, Bayside, takes place Saturday, April 26, 8:30 p.m. at OLBS, 35th Ave. & 203rd St.

All singles 30-50 are welcome. Neat, casual attire is suggested. $20 includes buffet, snacks, beverages, DJ and dancing. For more information, call Ray at 516-561-6994.

Bishop Octavio Cisneros celebrated Mass on Feb. 16 to celebrate the closing of the 150th Anniversary year at St. Mary Star of the Sea parish, Far Rockaway. The bishop met parishioners including Susan Singh-Smith, above.

After you finish your spring cleaning, take the old clothes to the St. Vincent de Paul clothing drive at St. Mel, Flushing, on Saturday, April 26, 8 a.m.- noon.

For more information, call 718-886-0201.

Join the Padre Pio Prayer Group from Our Lady of Grace, Gravesend, on a bus trip to the National Centre for St. Padre Pio, Barto, PA., on Saturday May 31. The bus departs after 8 a.m. Mass and leaves Barto at 6 p.m. $25 in advance. Call Henry Vose, 646-269-8008.

Families throughout the diocese are invited to the 2nd Annual Diocesan Rosary Rally to be held Sunday, June 1, 2-5 p.m., rain or shine, in Our Lady of Hope Field, Middle Village, 61-27 71st St. In addition to recitation of the Rosary, there will be a picnic lunch, children’s games and entertainment.

Call the Office of Faith Formation, 718-281-9544.

Please send news items and photos of parish events to lbusetti@thetablet.org or call 718-965-7333 ext. 2021.

Artist at Visitation Academy

Caldecott Award-winning illustrator Paul Zelinsky signs a book for Isabella Avila as Arlene Figaro, principal, watches on Author Day at Visitation Acdemy, Bay Ridge, recently. Zelinsky, who lives in Brooklyn, has illustrated retellings of children’s classics such as Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and Rumpelstiltskin.