Sharing and Caring Hands

10/23/2025

Happy *83rd* Birthday to Mary Jo, our Founder and Director! 🥳 We are so grateful for the gift of her 40 years of love and service to the poor, homeless, and those in need. 🙏🏻 She is still here every Monday-Thursday, leading us in being a compassionate response to the needs of our community. If you would like, please leave her a birthday message (or a fond memory) below, and we will share them with her! 💙

10/08/2024

In response to the online rumors, Mary Jo is alive and well!
10/08/2024 :
“I am on top of the world and still climbing! I promised God that He could count on me to take care of His poor and finish His work until He calls me home… But that time is not now!” 🙏🏻💙
-Mary Jo Copeland (Founder and Director)

01/04/2023

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year! Because of your generous donations, we were able to bless hundreds of Mary's Place children with amazing Christmas gifts and toys. The gratitude and joy these children had was truly beautiful and special. We were also able to bless countless others in need with your food/clothing/hygiene/household donations, coats/hats/gloves/scarves/socks donations, gift card donations, etc. Thank you for making the holidays brighter for those in need. We look forward to another new year of giving and serving!

11/26/2022

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." (1 Chronicles 16:34) 🙏 We were blessed to serve hundreds at our big, annual Thanksgiving meal, many of which were children. We are always grateful for the opportunity to feed the hungry. A special thanks to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Hastings, MN) and St. Mary Of The Lake (Plymouth, MN) for providing and serving the food and to Damian Moran of Twin Cities Wedding DJs for playing festive holiday music. Much joy was brought to many this day. We would also like to say how thankful we are for each and every one of you for your support - thank you to all of our donors and volunteers for being a compassionate response to the needs of the poor and for making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. 💛🧡

09/30/2022

DID YOU SEE? The Catholic Spirit, the official publication of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, featured Mary Jo Copeland and her work being done at Sharing and Caring Hands as their cover story. In case you missed it, click below!

Mary Jo Copeland, Unity Catholic High School, Pregnancy centers alert, Sacred music series, How to talk about abortion, Blessed John Paul II, Priests retirements, Discerning life after work

10/26/2020

Mary Jo and her work at Sharing and Caring Hands was featured this weekend on the Washington Post - click on the link to read the article - and please share so others can see, too!

Mary Jo Copeland, on choosing decency over anxiety and fear.

09/30/2020

Today Mary Jo unveiled the new backyard playground at Mary's Place! It includes 2 new climbing structures and new poured in rubber surface. Mary Jo is so excited and happy for the children to enjoy this new playground!

04/03/2020

*We are still in need of Easter baskets for the children*
We are still in need of Easter basket donations for the 450 Mary's Place children. Would you be willing to help us? We are looking for Easter baskets already assembled and filled with candy and stuffed animals and/or small toys. We would be grateful for whatever you are able to help provide. Thank you for your generosity! And thank you to those that have already dropped off beautiful Easter baskets!
*Easter basket donations can be dropped off any day/time (by Thursday April 9th) to Mary's Place : 401 North 7th Street, Minneapolis MN 55405.*

03/25/2020

*Update as of 04/09/2020 : We have received enough food service donations and volunteer servers and are very thankful - As of right now, our need has been met - Should we need more, we will update this post/do another post - Thank you again for your generosity!
We are in URGENT NEED of both food and volunteers to help us feed the hungry. Now, more than ever before, we are seeing a drastic increase in people coming to Sharing and Caring Hands in need of a warm meal. Our cafeteria is overflowing. We are desperately looking for food service and restaurants to donate meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and/or volunteer servers willing to come serve the meals. If you can help, please call/email 612-338-4640 or [email protected].

08/22/2019

We have had a wonderful summer here at Sharing and Caring Hands/Mary's Place! We have been blessed with many donations and volunteer groups that have given their money/items/gifts/time! The Mary's Place children have enjoyed lots of summer break playtime, field trips, and ice cream! Thank you to all of our generous donors and supporters that have made this all possible - we appreciate every single one of you and never take any of your blessings for granted. "Together we can do great things!" (Mother Teresa)

04/25/2019

THANK YOU to everyone who donated Easter baskets/donated money for Easter celebrations at Sharing and Caring Hands/Mary's Place!

04/11/2019

*We are still in need of Easter baskets for the children*
We are still in need of Easter basket donations for the 450 Mary's Place children. Would your family, friends, church, business/company, school, or neighborhood group be willing to help us? We are looking for Easter baskets filled with candy and stuffed animals and/or small toys. We would be grateful for whatever your group is able to help provide. Thank you for your generosity! And thank you to those that have already dropped off beautiful Easter baskets!
*Easter basket donations can be dropped off any day/time (by Good Friday, April 19th) to Mary's Place : 401 North 7th Street, Minneapolis MN 55405.