CHARLOTTE — MiraVia will host its 27th annual fundraising banquet at the Charlotte Convention Center’s Crown Ballroom this year, with the option to watch online, from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14.
Bishop Peter Jugis and other priests and deacons of the diocese will be in attendance.
The “Proclaiming Truth and Life” banquet will feature keynote speaker Alison Centofante, a powerful pro-life activist and director of external relations for Live Action, the nation’s largest pro-life media group focused on shifting public opinion through education.
MiraVia, which began as Room At The Inn in 1994, helps abortion-vulnerable women choose life and build independent, healthy lives for themselves and their children.
At its outreach facility in Charlotte, MiraVia offers free life skills classes, material assistance and moral support to the women who come to them for help. Since its founding, MiraVia has helped nearly 9,091 women and their children at its outreach program.
In 2013 it opened a 10,000-square-foot maternity home at Belmont Abbey College that can house up to 15 young women with an unplanned pregnancy who want to complete their college education and care for their babies. To date, MiraVia has provided this free housing at its college maternity residence to 62 mothers and their children. Since the first pregnant mother’s admission in December 1994, the residential program has served 587 mothers and children.
Registration to view the “Proclaiming Truth and Life” banquet online is still open, although sign-ups for in-person attendance have ended. Go to www.miravia.org for more information and to register. Questions? Contact Megan Whiteside at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 704-525-4673, ext. 13.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
Annual Blessing of the Animals were held in honor of the Feast Day of St. Francis on Oct. 4. Blessings were held the weekend of Oct. 1-3 at parishes and schools across the Diocese of Charlotte. St Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals, merchants and ecology.
Another opportunity
Charlotte residents: Missed having your pet blessed last weekend? St. Matthew Church will host a pet blessing at noon Saturday, Oct. 9. Go to the Pets Memorial Garden next to the main church at the corner of Rea Road and Ballantyne Commons Parkway. Animals need to be on a leash or in a carrier.
