This year’s Sisters of Notre Dame (SND) annual Barbecue & Boutique event will be held on September 21 and 28, 2014, from noon to 5:00 p.m. This longstanding community event attracts more than 9,000 guests for dinner, shopping, and camaraderie. Devoted attenders will remember their 2012 50th anniversary celebration we shared on Geauga News. This year promises to be equally as scrumptious.
Proceeds from the event support the Education and Technology Fund. Their tradition of education as a way to combat poverty represents a proven model of successful educational practices. This fund advances the mission and ministry in the classroom, providing more tutoring, teaching, administrative and leadership opportunities.
Below is a list of some of the outreach services provided through SND. Visit their website for a full list of services and additional details about these ministries. In the mean time, make plans to attend this family and community centered event, now in its 52nd year!
Outreach Services
Educational Services:
The SND have a long tradition of quality education in Northeast Ohio and throughout the United States. In addition to their establishment and management of numerous schools (preschool through college), the SND have supported tutoring services for children in Northeast Ohio through the Notre Dame Skills Lab and adults in inner-city Cleveland through the Legacy Project.
Service/Mission Work:
In addition to a strong focus on women and children in the United States, the SND have successfully established and supported missions overseas. Through the efforts of the Chardon Province, the SND established missions in Patna and Bangalore, India, and Tanzania and Kenya, Africa. The missions in India were started in 1949 by six Sisters, and have grown into two established SND provinces with more than 300 Sisters in active mission work throughout the country. The purpose has been to provide educational services, healthcare, socio-pastoral work, and empowerment programs for women and girl-children, especially with the marginalized populations and those living in extreme poverty.
Facilities Space/Technology upgrades:
The SND Education Center, located on Auburn Road, is the largest meeting facility in Geauga County, accommodating between 500–600 people for presentations. In 2013–2014, the Education Center hosted more than 10,000 guests through a variety of community partnerships. There is no charge for use of the space; however, groups are asked to consider a free will offering. Providing appropriate technological needs, and space for outside groups to come in and share the Education Center allows the SND to revitalize their public image and visibility within the community and share gifts with different people and organizations locally to help create stronger collaborative bonds which furthers the mission to care for others
Social Justice:
In response to the extensive social justice work done by the SND overseas, the SND have an increased awareness of the plight of many people around the globe as it relates to the basic human need for clean water. In 2005, the SND established the Water for Life Program and made it a corporate stance for the Chardon province. In 2009, the SND joined the fight against human trafficking and partnered with the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking, to educate and advocate for the prevention and abolition of human trafficking while connecting services on behalf of trafficked persons. The SND Education Center in Chardon is now one of ten resource centers in Ohio with trained presenters, free educational materials, and collaborative relationships with local support agencies to address immediate needs when identified.
Sisters of Notre Dame
13000 Auburn Road
Chardon, Ohio 44024
