St. Mary’s, once a mission itself, has reached out to help the world outside of Neillsville. One of the first correspondences from Fr. Volz to the Bishop was a report that $5.79 had been raised for "Indian and Negro" missionary work.

In 1979 the parish recieved a house which was used to take in a Hmong refugee family fleeing the Communists in the Asian country of Laos. The project helped the family integrate into America, but was relatively short-lived due to the isolation from larger groups of Hmong refugees.

For 30 years or more a small but dedicated group of women led by Mrs. Susie Feurstein wrapped bandages to be used for leper colonies and other sick attended by the Medical Mission Sisters.

The PCCW has long raised funds for "Project Milk," an effort of the Diocese of La Crosse to provide much needed dry milk to the children of Peru.

More recent efforts have taken parishioners out of town.

Sr. Niva Langreck, graduate of St. Mary’s School, was one of the founders of "Casa Carolina," a nutrition Center in Sulaco, Honduras, Central America. This is a residence where malnourished children could be adequately fed and returned to health. The PCCW began sending aid to the project in the late 1990’s. It has also been adopted as an outreach of the Justice and Peace Committee. In 2002, a delegation from St. Mary’s visited Sulaco to assess the situation and what needs St. Mary’s could be involved with.

Ties to Uganda are even stronger. Veterinarian Jean Grade was a parishioner when she left the Neillsville area for that East African nation in 1999. Dr. Grade, as a member of the Christian Veterinary Missionaries, works with the Karamoja people of northeast Uganda. She works at the village level to improve the health of their cattle herds, an essential part of the well being of the economically impoverished but spiritually rich people. She is especially interested in combining traditional-natural therapies with western medical approaches. The parish, PCCW, as well as many individuals, have financially supported Dr. Jean.

Serendipitously, our current pastor, Fr. Pace, also has a special connection to Uganda. He undertook a pastoral year there while a seminarian and made a number of friends. This has led to cultural exchanges between St. Mary’s and the Ugandan Diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana. A group of twelve parishioners, led by Fr. Pace, visited there in June of 2001. Two Ugandans were our guests the summer of 2002. A group of nine Ugandans visited and took part in the 125^th anniversary celebration in September of 2003. A diocesan wide group took part in spiritual and clean water development projects in Uganda in the summer of 2004.