Dear Friends,
Many of our elderly and disabled Brothers depend on a walker or wheelchair – which are nearly impossible to maneuver in some of our largest retirement facility’s tiny, 
older bathrooms. The bathroom doorways are too narrow. The small, standing-style showers have step-up thresholds, making them very risky for any Brother in a wheelchair. As for the sinks, our Brothers can’t roll up close enough to the basin.
We’ve already renovated two of the old bathrooms in this particular retirement facility, and the peace of mind those handicap accessible bathrooms brought is remarkable. So, we decided it’s time to update four additional small, antiquated bathrooms. Our hope was to begin the updates in early 2019, and we were on track for a while.
Then we got hit with the estimate...$52,590! That brought a full stop to our project.
Today, as the Christmas season approaches, I turn to our Marist Brothers’ friends and ask for your help.
A gift – in whatever amount you can afford – will be such a blessing this Christmas.
Of course, we could postpone the renovations, but the antiquated bathroom fixtures are barely functioning as it is. Add the slipping, tripping, and maneuvering hazards, and we’re talking about significant safetyrisks. Did you know that more than 2/3 of emergency room visits are due to bathroom falls?
Your gift will help us renovate these outdated bathrooms and create accessible, comfortable, safe spaces for our elderly and disabled Brothers.
Yes, $52,590 is a lot of money, but there is quite a bit of work to be done. These bathrooms haven’t been updated in over 40 years! Back in the 1970s, this building was a monastery for our young teaching Brothers,and the bathroom situation was fine. After converting the home to a retirement facility, it’s a different story. We must update the bathrooms to accommodate our elderly and disabled Brothers.
To begin with, we need to “borrow” space from the adjacent bedrooms order to make these bathrooms large enough to safely accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. That means knocking down and putting up new walls. There’s also extensive plumbing and electrical work. The list goes on and on!
Your gift this Christmas season – whether $15, $25, or whatever you can share – will help us secure our elderly and disabled Brothers’ safety and bring obsolete bathrooms up-to-date.
I have faith that you will remember our Brothers with a gift this season, and to show my appreciation for your generosity, I tucked a special Christmas Blessing in with my letter. I pray the words inspire you to remember the season’s spirit of hope and giving.
It’s important that you know how much every gift means! Like the coin with my letter, the nickel alone has no jingle! When you add many more nickels, it’s a symphony of sleigh bells! In the same way, once we add many gifts – large or small – from our Marist Brothers’ friends, we’ll soon have the $52,590 needed!
And my Brothers and I will thank you for your kindness. We spend part of every day in Chapel, and it would bring us such great pleasure to pray for you and your special intentions in our Advent devotions. So, please take a moment to fill out the enclosed response slip andreturn it to me with your gift.
In closing, every Marist Brother joins me in wishing you a joyous and peace-filled Advent season. May your home be warm, your holidays filled with love, and your days overflowing with happiness.
God bless you for caring,
Br. Dan O’Riordan, F.M.S.
Director, Senior Brothers
