ZOE for Life!® Southern Tier took a big step recently toward fulfilling its mission: to help pregnant women in distress who need confidential emotional and spiritual support to encourage them to choose life for their unborn child, to assist Orthodox Christians seeking to adopt, and to provide life-affirming resources.

On Saturday, November 12, supporters of ZOE for Life!® Southern Tier gathered at Dormition of the Theotokos Church in Binghamton for its first Baby Shower and blessing of its new office space.

The afternoon events began in the Church with Archbishop Michael presiding over a prayer service "for beginning any good work." Prayers were offered for those working to support life, those struggling with pregnancy challenges, and those impacted by abortion.

Those present then proceeded next door for the blessing of the "Zoe House," the new location of ZOE for Life!® Southern Tier.

Participants were able to venerate the sacred relics of the children massacred by Herod after the birth of Christ, which were brought here for the special blessing of the ZOE for Life!® facility this afternoon.

We then returned to the Dormition church undercroft for refreshments and remarks by Paula Kappos, a founder of ZOE for Life!®, and others.

Joyce Merletti provided copies of her icon of Rachael Weeping for her Children; these are available for a $25 donation to Zoe for Life!® Southern Tier.

Large plastic baby bottle banks were distributed to parishes to collect additional donations. An Amazon registry is now set up for gifts (search for ZOE for Life Southern Tier).

The current need is for volunteers to be trained to meet with clients. Volunteers will provide intakes, help with referrals and arrange to distribute needed goods close to infants’ delivery dates.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this event a huge success! It was overwhelming to see not only the generosity to ZOE for Life!® Southern Tier, but the palpable outpouring of supportive spirit that infused Saturday’s prayer service, blessing, and baby shower.

Thanks also to St. Michael’s (Carpatho-Russian) Orthodox church for a wonderful fundraising Sunday brunch, held on the day following the dedication of Zoe House.

We received a generous outpouring of monetary donations at both the Baby Shower and the Sunday brunch.

Thanks to Fr. Jim Dutko, Fr. David Cowan, Fr. Ivan Synevskyy, Fr. Nathaniel Choma, and Fr. Deacon Andrew Boivert, as well as to Matushka Marge Kappanadze, Paula Kappos, a founder of Zoe for Life!® who came from Cleveland for the event, and all the supporters who brought baby shower gifts to stock the new space.

ZOE for Life!® Southern Tier is an Orthodox Christian-based group serving to provide confidential and non-discriminatory support – material, emotional and spiritual - at no cost to those needing help with a pregnancy. Such aid may include confidential referrals for spiritual guidance, professional counseling, free prenatal medical care, housing assistance, adoption, and other social services or material aid.