St. John’s Walks for the Homeless

A group of 340 walkers consisting of St. John’s University students, staff, faculty and friends, pictured here in front of St. Thomas More Church on the Jamaica campus, participated in the annual Walk for the Homeless on Good Friday, raising over $9,000 to benefit organizations that help the homeless throughout the city. More gifts and donations are expected. To donate, call the campus ministry office at 718-990-2680.

The seventh-grade confirmation class at St. Joseph School, Astoria, is hosting a Blood Drive on Sunday, April 27, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. in the school gym at 43-19 30th Ave. Free cholesterol screenings.

For more information, call 718-726-0451.

Literacy classes will be starting May 5 at St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights. Learn how to read and write in English and Spanish on Monday and Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. Tuition is $65.

Volunteer teachers are also needed. For information, call the rectory at 718-429-2333.

Weekly line dancing has resumed at Our Lady of the Angelus’ Dance O’Rama in Rego Park, every Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in the school auditorium.

Come learn the latest line dance steps from Archie and Tess Reyes. For more information, call Jessy, 347-255-3920.

A pat on the back goes to Jack LoConsolo & Co., 2662 Coney Island Ave., who generously donated supplies, which were used to paint the new Choir Rehearsal Room at Our Lady of Grace, Gravesend. It will be less expensive to heat the new smaller rehearsal space than the church in the winter months.

This Week’s Tip of The TabletTalk Top Hat goes to the fourth-graders of St. Mel School, Flushing, who raised $200 to buy a brick on the “walk of love” at a nearby Ronald McDonald House. The house will provide a “home-away-from-home” for families while their children are hospitalized.

Come learn more about the mystery surrounding the burial cloth of Christ when Dr. Clara Sarrocco lectures on “The Shroud of Turin – Fact or Fiction” at Christ the King R.H.S., Middle Village, on April 26, noon-5:30 p.m.

The afternoon, sponsored by Bella Italia Mia, also includes a Sing-a-Long and dancing. $7 for non-members.

For more information, call 718-426-1240.

Msgr. John Brown and the members of the St. Francis de Sales Support Group, Belle Harbor, invite anyone who has recently lost a loved one to join them for a Memorial Prayer Service on Sunday, April 26 at 11 a.m. in the Sacred Heart Chapel at St. Francis de Sales Church, Beach 129th St.

Light refreshments will be served after. For more information, call 718-634-6464.

The Italian Societies of St. Finbar, Bath Beach, will hold their annual Dinner Dance on Saturday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m.

A donation of $50 includes a buffet dinner and live music by Angela and the Sugar Band. Parking is available in the schoolyard.

For more information, call 718-236-3312.

The diocese is sponsoring a Day of Recollection for Persons with Disabilities on Saturday, May 3, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston.

The day includes presentations, opportunities for individual confessions, prayer, socialization and Mass. The Mass and homily will be interpreted in ASL. A hot lunch will be served. All group events are orally described for the blind. The center is wheelchair accessible.

To attend and to arrange transportation, call Catholic Charities at 718-722-6216 (TTY: 718-722-6226) by April 25.

Food from more than 50 Bay Ridge restaurants will be availabel for your gastronomical delight at A Taste of the Ridge at St. Patrick’s Auditorium, Bay Ridge, on Sunday, April 27, 3-5 p.m.

Tickets are $12. Call 238-2600.

Holy Innocents, Flatbush, is looking for school alumni and former parishioners as they prepare for the parish centennial in 2009. Call 718-469-9500.

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

Spelling Bee Winner

After a first-place finish in the St. Bernadette School Spelling Bee, sixth-grader Melissa Bojic went on to become a finalist in the Daily News Spelling Bee, which took place on March 13. Everyone at the Bensonhurst school is very proud of Melissa! Congratulations!