Happy (American) Thanksgiving, everyone!
Along with a great day of feasting, and recalling the things we should be thankful for, it’s also the traditional beginning of the Christmas season – also making it a great time to order one of our beautiful 2025 Astrophoto Calendars [Click Here!]. We can send it directly to your friends and family too!
They’re a great calendar, with the proceeds going to support our work here at the Vatican Observatory.
Being thankful, and remembering friends and family, should also remind us of those who can’t be with family. For those who have been sent to prison, a calendar with the beauties to be seen overhead means a lot, when their night time views are limited to what they can see out a window.
When we first started producing these calendars, about twenty years ago, a Jesuit friend of ours who works in prison ministry, Fr. George Williams, asked if we could send some calendars to him to distribute. Since then a number of other prisons have joined in the program. We estimate that about half the calendars we print, now go to prisoners.
“…I am able to see sights I haven’t seen in 17 years….I am able to look in wonder on such vast creation and just ponder all that is.”
Quote from a San Quentin inmate
Starting in 2017, we have dedicated everything we receive as part of our GivingTuesday drive to support the cost of those programs. You can take part in our GivingTuesday drive by [Clicking Here].
GivingTuesday is Nov 28, 2023. GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. It was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past seven years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. One of the best ways to get involved is in your own community. We’ve created a directory to help you find organizations, events, and ways to give back in your own community.” – www.givingtuesday.org