Sts. Peter and Paul parishioners give hands for festival

Friday, May. 09, 2014

WEST VALLEY CITY – Leaving with a smile and a hand has become typical after all the Masses at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in West Valley City.

As part of their preparations for their annual festival, Sts. Peter and Paul parishioners have launched a “Give Me a Hand” (Danos una mano) campaign, in which the main goal is a closer integration of the parish community.

Jaime Suazo and Victor Suazo, who are brothers, are two of the parishioners organizing the festival. Jaime Suazo came with the idea of creating a tree of hands in which each parishioner could grab a hand for the festival.

“Each hand has a product needed for the preparation of the food for the festival,” said Father Omar Ontiveros, pastor. “We want everybody to ‘give us a hand’ for the festival.”

The construction-paper hands were made by students in the parish’s catechism classes, who drew them, cut them and painted them; they are being displayed in the form of a tree on the windows at the parish’s main entrance. After each Mass, parishioners are invited to take one hand with them.

“This helps to encourage unity in our parish,” said Victor Suazo. “Sometimes we are missing a bit of it and this is a great opportunity for everybody to come together socially, spiritually and as one community.”

As part of the campaign, the youth from the parish also created a poster with the word “Welcome” in different languages such as Spanish, English, Samoan, Tagalog  and Tongan, all of which represent various ethnic and cultural communities that worship at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.

“The idea is for everybody to feel welcome,” said Jaime Suazo. “After everyone feels that this is their home and that they are welcome here, they might be more open to participate in the festival and in other things as a community.”

The items mentioned on the hands, which parishioners are asked to donate, are items used for the preparation of the diverse food, such as Peruvian, Salvadorian, Mexican, American and Tongan,  that will be offered at the festival booths.

“People may even have the ingredients at their home, so they just need to bring them,” said Victor Suazo, who considers the festival  a great opportunity to display and celebrate the parish’s diversity. 

The Sts. Peter and Paul Parish festival will be held the weekend of June 14-15. “If anyone wants to donate their talent or some goods, they will be more than welcome,” said Jaime Suazo, who extended the invitation to all the community to attend the festival.

For information or to donate to the festival, contact Jaime Suazo at 801-884-9540.