Mercy Girl Effect
2025–2026
One Family. Many Peoples. A Shared Future.
Our Mercying Movement is growing – changing lives through GIRL-centered education and global solidarity. Inspired by Pope Leo’s call to see humanity as one family, we believe: the local is global, and the global is local.
A Powerful Lesson from the Past
In 1847, during Ireland’s Great Famine, the Choctaw People – survivors of the Trail of Tears – gave $170 to aid the starving Irish. They called this act Iyyikowa: serving those in need.
Centuries later, in 2020, Irish donors remembered this generosity and raised funds to help the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation during COVID-19 – a true act of “paying it forward.”
“True generosity is measured not by what is given, but by what is shared.” – Waylon Gary White Deer
Our Challenge Today
This year, we stand with young women and girls in the Choctaw reservations of Mississippi, partnering with Misty Brescia and Fr. Bob Goodyear to strengthen social services, family support, and community programs across nine communities, serving 11,000 Choctaw citizens.
This is solidarity, not charity. Together, we honor the Choctaw’s resilience, dignity, and vision for a more just and compassionate world.
Are you ready to join the CHALLENGE?