As you may have seen in news media, the city’s public transit system is in a crisis situation right now.  It is quite possible that without dedicated funding sources it may have to discontinue services this summer.  Together Baton Rouge(TBR)  has been researching this issue and our parish TBR Target Group members have been active in learning more about this very important issue for our community.  TBR is organizing three Civic Education Sessions around the city, each hosted by a cluster of congregations that are interested in improving public transportation. Our parish will be clustered with St. George and St. Paul the Apostle Catholic, Star Hill Baptist, and others.  We will all gather together on Tuesday, January 24th at 6:00 p.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, 3912 Gus Young Avenue.  We would like to have a delegation of about 30 people from SJV to represent our parish.  It is important that we participate fully, as one of the options for improving the bus system includes a route on O’Neal Lane.   This would be a significant impact economically for our community.  If you are interested in participating as a delegate, please contact Lori at 753-7950, or .

                         **   Ten Parishioners Needed  **

If you care about public education in our community, then you will want to be a part of Together Baton Rouge’s citywide meeting on Public Education, Thursday, January 12th, 6:30 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church, 185 Eddie Robinson Drive.  This meeting will launch TBR’s 2012 strategy of community visits to 20-25 public schools in the Baton Rouge area.  In our parish area, visits will be made at River Oaks Elementary (Jan. 24) and Sherwood Middle Magnet (Jan. 31) schools. We need ten parishioners with an interest in public education and who are willing to be part of a team that will gather information from the above mentioned schools during school hours (8:30 a.m.-noon).  If you would like more information about the citywide meeting, or to participate in the Education Action Team visits to the schools, please contact SJV members Cindy Tracy, 752-6232 or Vicki Dauterive, 756-4796.

Congratulations to our Emergency Assistance Program for winning $1000.00 from the Alberston's Store Community Partners' Challenge held this fall.  Parishioners who participated in the challenge by voting online for this minstry helped to secure these funds.  The $1000.00 check, an award certificate, and a cake from the Alberston's bakery were presented by store manager, NAthan Teford, to ministry representatives,  Lori Aucoin, Ingrid Matens and Ann Wolf.