Outreach
Reaching Out to Our Neighbors in Need
The Outreach Committee brings before the parish the needs of people outside the congregation in the local community, on deanery and diocesan levels, as well as throughout the Church and World. The committee recommends opportunities for service through parishioners giving time, talent and treasure.
Lenten Offering and 2011 Outreach Grant Recipient
Project Haiti: Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation Great need
still exists in Haiti following the devastating
Saint Luke's Youth Group & Gingerbread Players Bake for Haiti In 2010, every parish household was asked to take a Lenten Self-Denial folder and to make daily acts of self-denial by foregoing the cost of a small indulgence. The Lenten Project Offering was gathered on the Sunday of the Passion, March 28. The Vestry also donated $4000 to ERD's Haiti Fund. Our ongoing Project Haiti Working Group is being co-ordinated by Heather Hanson. Haitians Suffer in Aftermath of Devastating Earthquake On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. The nation's capital Port-au-Prince, located only ten miles from the quake's epicenter, sustained serious damage. Episcopal Relief & Development has disbursed emergency funding for its program partner, the Diocese of Haiti, to help meet immediate needs such as food, water and shelter. The agency is standing ready to support the Diocese with post-earthquake recovery and rebuilding efforts and is partnering with the Diocese of the Dominican Republic to coordinate efforts that can be administered from the border areas. The Diocese already has staff in place and relationships with the Episcopal priests across the border. As communications and access improve, Episcopal Relief & Development will continue to provide updates.
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This
year, we will be serving,cooking, mentoring, volunteering for St
Andrew's Teen Center for Homeless Youth in Astoria .
Within the context of the Anglican
tradition of profound respect for the dignity of every person, and in
response to the lack of current services targeted to their needs, Episcopal
Community Services of Long Island is partnering with The Ali Forney
Center to meet basic emergency needs, increase coping and decision making
capacities, and assist in planning for the re-integration into community
living, of homeless and runaway youth who identify as Lesbian Gay Bisexual,
Transgendered and Questioning (LGBTQ), in the New York City area.
The Facility at St. Andrew’s will strengthen family relationships,
(when possible and appropriate), and help youth transition to safe and
appropriate alternative living arrangements where they can become independent,
self-sufficient, contributing members of society.
In 2010, our Pre-Thanksgiving Bake Sale was extended to the Archdeaconry of Queens when they met at St. Lukes.
Our parish Outreach Committee seeks to establish an ongoing relationship with the Center through the once monthly preparation, delivery and serving of Saturday dinner. Home-made food and fellowship at table are healing gifts for the homeless LGBT youth cared for at the Center.
You can make a crucial difference
in any of the following ways:
• You can become an on-site volunteer who, on a monthly rotating
basis, is part of a team who serves dinner at the center, interacting
with the young people who gather around the table. Submitting an application
and participating in a training workshop is required.
• You can cook dishes at home for an upcoming meal and on-site
volunteers will bring your home cooking to the center.
• You can commit to a financial contribution that is used for
the purchase of groceries.
To volunteer in any of these three ways or to get more information contact
Julia Khan or Heather
Hanson.
Our
Bake Sales are labors of love which raise funds to feed those in need.
In so doing, we also feed our friends, neighbors, and the families in
our community, who place on their tables breads, pies, and cookies baked
by us while supporting our charitable endeavor.
In 2009, the Thanksgiving Bake
Sale, New Year's Eve Gala and direct donations
raised $4200 - all proceeds going to the recipient of the Parish Outreach
Grant,
American Cancer Society’s HOPE LODGE.
In 2008, we made our annual outreach grant, in the amount of $3400, to City Harvest, which rescues millions of pounds of excess food from hotels, supermarkets and restaurants each year, and transports it to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other needy recipients.
