As pro-life pregnancy centers across the country are being vandalized by abortion activists, one woman, Mary Wilkerson, has a powerful response that was inspired by Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” According to Catholic News Service, after learning that her local crisis pregnancy center was vandalized with smashed windows and graffiti, Wilkerson shared that she and her husband decided to donate to the center that she knows provides so much for women and their families.
After the Lennon Pregnancy Center in Dearborn Heights, Michigan was vandalized, it left Wilkerson’s friend who worked there, Erin Bauer, feeling “hated and alone.” Wilkerson recalled one of Bauer’s recent posts where she shared the incredible help 97 women received from the center in just the month of June alone with their distribution of diapers, food, and emotional and educational support. Although the attack on the center was during the month of June, Bauer remained committed to helping the women. Everything given at the pregnancy center, Bauer shared is free, adding in her post that while they are pro-life, they are also pro-women and pro-child.
With Bauer continuing her outreach, Wilkerson and her husband shared that they decided to donate to the pregnancy center and invited their social media followers to join. Overnight, they found $2,860 had been donated, and after just four days, over $20,000 was donated to the center. One donor, Francine Shammami, shared with Detroit Catholic, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of Detroit, “I donated because I believe in putting my resources behind the causes I support…Pregnancy is stressful enough when planned, and with all the resources one needs. This is one way I can accompany those who don’t have the resources they need to support their families.”
Upon learning about the extraordinary generosity shown to her pregnancy center, Bauer expressed her enormous gratitude. Though the vandalism left a scar, it was healed by the power of kindness and compassion that was shown to her from the support of her community. Amidst the unrest across America in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Wilkerson and Bauer’s story gives people encouragement that light and faith will overcome those who may try to stifle it, and those who do good will always find a way.