Please join the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) for our annual benefit program, “I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me: A Century of Franciscan Solidarity with Migrants,” on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 7 pm eastern time on Zoom. As we have done since 2023, FAN invites you to sponsor or buy a ticket, give away your meal to someone who truly needs it, and join us for a stimulating online program to explore the rich Franciscan heritage of caring for our sisters and brothers who are migrants.
Artwork by Rosie Davila
‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me…Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Mt 25)
This year our program will take you to St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City. The Church has been present in midtown Manhattan, a busy crossroads of humanity, for nearly a century. Friars, staff, and lay people of the parish have fed, clothed, housed, and provided services to generations of people arriving in New York City.
FAN’s online program will explore the deep Franciscan heritage of serving people on the move, the challenges to ongoing service today, and the important connection between direct service and Franciscan-hearted policy advocacy. FAN staff and friends will spend a day at St. Francis of Assisi, serving and learning from the guests about the circumstances that lead to migration and economic hardship. FAN will also make a generous contribution to the work of St. Francis of Assisi Church.
While the meal will be provided to guests of the Church, as a sponsor or ticket holder you are invited to participate in our online benefit program:
“I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me”:
A Century of Franciscan Solidarity with Migrants
Zoom program
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
7-8 pm Eastern (4-5 pm Pacific)
Please join us in this stimulating program to learn about the root causes and current situation of migration, experience the service work of St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City, and support the advocacy work of Franciscan Action Network. The program will be recorded for later viewing.
This is FAN’s most important fundraising event of the year. We rely on your generosity to keep bringing our collective Franciscan voice to public policy issues in the United States related to justice, peace, creation, and human dignity. Thank you for your engagement and partnership!