CHARITY
The monks of the Cistercian Abbey are dedicated to helping others with our time, talent, and treasure. We spend over 5 hours each day in prayer for the world. Several hours each week are shared with individuals throughout the Midwest in Spiritual Guidance and Direction. Another 5 hours or more each day is spent in remunerative work. For over 900 years Cistercians have worked to provide for not only their daily bread, but to provide for the needs of others as well. After the modest expenses of the monastery are met, the remaining funds from our various income projects are used for charitable works regionally, nationally, and internationally. LaserMonks Premium Imaging Supplies is the primary source of income for the monks and for our charitable works.
The monks assist others not only through direct funding, but also through initiation, management and guidance of projects aimed at specific goals. It is a special hope of the monks to help others help others – through our projects to encourage others in their own sharing of time, talent, and treasure.
The monks have charitable interests in many areas, both secular and religious, that form an integral whole for the needs of the human family. We divide these among Care for the Body, Care for the Mind, and Care for the Soul.
Examples of our interests in each of these important areas are as follows:
Care for the Body
Food pantries for the poor
Homeless shelters
Aid to medical facilities and first response services
Sustenance and medical services to the poor in developing countries
Care for the Mind
Scholarships to needy and worthy students of all ages in all fields of human knowledge, practical and speculative
Support of cultural events and projects that foster an appreciation for beauty and knowledge
Support for counseling services that assist others in balanced psychological growth
Support for research in areas that focus on quality of life
Care for the Soul
Offering of Spiritual Direction and Guidance
Support for programs that encourage spiritual development
Support for missionary work in developing countries
Support for ecumenical and inter-religious initiatives
Recent charitable works include:
 Torchlight is LaserMonks Charitable Foundation
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The Torchlight mission is to provide resources and funding to "help others,
help others".
Torchlight participants currently include:
Youth Groups, the elderly and Corporate Teams |
Donation made to Angel Ranch, in Oxford, Mississippi.
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Angel Ranch, Inc. is an emergency shelter in Oxford, Mississippi, for abused, abandoned, and neglected children. Angel Ranch, Inc. provides a safe and loving environment for children who require temporary placement while in the protective custody of the Mississippi
State Department of Human Services. |
Donation made to
Camp Heartland, in Willow River, Minnesota. |
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In 1993, inspired by Nile Wolff, Neil Willenson founded Camp Heartland - a
summer camp program that accepted children with AIDS that was equipped with
state-of-the-art medical facilities able to handle the special needs of
immuno-compromised campers; a summer camp program where children living with
HIV/AIDS could step out of the shadows of secrecy into the light of openness
and honesty. A place where kids with AIDS could live without lies and have a
chance to make real friends. A place where they could have the best week of
their lives.
Set amidst 80 wooded acres in Northern Minnesota, with access to three lakes
and miles of wilderness trails, the Camp Heartland Center is an extraordinary
haven. It is a light in the darkness for children who live every day of their
often all-too-brief lives in a thickly shadowed world of chronic illness and
discrimination.
Camp Heartland now operates year-round camping and life enhancement programs
for its national community of more than 500 children and teens. In addition,
Camp Heartland's Journey of Hope AIDS Awareness program travels to dozens of
schools and communities nation-wide every year to share life-saving messages of
hope, compassion and prevention with America's youth.
Fr. Bernard, LaserMonks CEO, met Neil, Camp Heartland's Founder, at a meeting
honoring Fast Company Magazines Fast 50 nominees in January. They immediately
connected on various issues and struck up a friendship. Neil invited Fr.
Bernard up to the camp to visit this summer, and perhaps take some of the kids
for a ride in the LaserMonks plane. |
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