The God Box project gives back.

When Mary Lou wrote the book and the play, she wanted only one thing: to pay forward her mother's compassion, her father's care. So she has set out to create a movement of giving back through "The God Box" story. To date, she has raised over $80,000 for causes including cancer and hospice care, hospitals and health research and for women/family and community educational charities. Proceeds of performance ticket sales and books sold at her events go straight to causes that help families around the country. See the events page for a listing of her upcoming and past events. 

Want to partner with us to stage “The God Box, A Daughter’s Story” in your community to help your favorite charity? Email us at hello@theGodBoxproject.com and let’s talk!

Here is an ongoing list of charities and causes whose audiences are benefiting from "The God Box" movement around the country. 

Hospitals/hospice/health:

Ann's Choice retirement/hospice, Warminster, PA

BeCureful Foundation for Tubular Sclerosis, Lake Forest, IL

Greenville Hospital Cancer Support Community, Greenville, SC

Grief Information Education and Recovery Services, Freehold, NJ

Hunterdon Hospital hospice, Flemington, NJ

Lahey Clinic, Burlington, MA
Morristown Memorial Hospital Palliative Care Center , Morristown, NJ
Oncology/chaplains’ services for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Sisters U, for women undergoing cancer treatment, Doylestown, PA
St. Mary Hospital Hospice Care programs, Newtown, PA
The American Cancer Society, Coaches V Cancer, Phila, PA
The ASCF for pediatric cancer research, Whitehouse Station, NJ
The Rose Haven Women’s Shelter, Portland, OR

Family/education/spiritual charities: 

Adat Shalom Family Services, Pittsburgh, PA
Family Services for Or Chadash Temple, Flemington, NJ
Family Services, YMCA, Valparaiso, IN
Peruvian mission of the Mercy Sisters, Gwynedd, PA
Programming support for NYU Glucksman Ireland House , NY, NY
Saint Helena's School Scholarships, Phila, PA
Scholarship support for The Connelly Center Middle School for Girls, NY, NY 
Scholarships for All Saints Catholic Regional School, Manahawkin, NJ
Scholarships for St. Hubert High School for Girls, Phila, PA
SheUnited scholarships, St. Joseph’s University, Phila, PA
The Rose Haven Women’s Shelter, Portland, OR
The Sisters of St. Joseph Retirement Fund, Phila, PA
Volunteers of St. Catherine of Siena, Phila, PA

• "A wonderful legacy…Keeping a God Box is an incredibly moving and hopeful ritual that we should all consider adding into our daily lives."
  – REBA, MUSICIAN, AUTHOR, ACTRESS
• "What a beautiful and profoundly human book....I will keep The God Box in my heart for a long, long time."
  – LAURA SCHROFF, AUTHOR OF "THE INVISIBLE THREAD"
• "Mary Lou Quinlan shares her mother’s handmade and heartfelt gift of how to persist, believe and move forward with joy."
  – LEE WOODRUFF, AUTHOR OF "IN AN INSTANT"
• "In the slips of paper that carry this sweet story forward, we can see the love in our own families and the great possibilities of simple faith."
  – JEFFREY ZASLOW, COAUTHOR OF "THE LAST LECTURE"
• "Mary Lou Quinlan has told the story of her mother in a way that entertains, moves and inspires. The thoughts about life and values will stick with you forever."
  – JIM LEHRER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF PBS NEWSHOUR
• "The courage and wisdom from the messages left in her mother’s God Box will inspire you to create a God Box of your own."
  – GAIL SHEEHY, AUTHOR OF "PASSAGES IN CAREGIVING"
• "A beautiful story of love, faith and family. It reads like an intimate, familiar prayer."
  – ELIZABETH GILBERT, AUTHOR OF "EAT, PRAY, LOVE"

May 24, 2013
by Mary Lou Quinlan

Today, the love of my life, Joe Quinlan receives his Masters degree in Irish and Irish American Studies from NYU. Joe likes to joke that he is the Bluto Blutarski of NYU...his Animal House laugh about his five years in school. But I feel serious today.  Seriously proud. I have watched Joe as he researched and read, studied and wrote. Joe was a sponge for everything Irish. He loved the learning, the faculty, the sessions of music and poetry, politics and thought. Joe found his greatest joy in the stories behind the stories...the family of ...