(See also the Special Ministries Monthly Report in the Shore Line Newsletter section)
Special Ministries and Outreach at St. David’s Church:
Some years ago, the Vestry voted that at least 20% of our operating budget would be set aside each year for work outside the church. The Special Ministries Committee administers these monies.
Special Ministries Mission Statement
Outreach
ministry at St. David's has been central since the church began. In
keeping with this basic concept, the church Vestry established the
Special Ministries Committee to oversee special ministries and to serve
as a conduit through which church monies are expended in support of
worthy causes. The Committee distributes funds that are allocated to it
from the annual church budget, or from special gifts, or from various
fund raising efforts.
In
addition, much of the Committee's time is spent evaluating donation
requests from a variety of sources, locally from Cape Cod, nationally
from within the United States, and internationally from the larger
world. All charitable requests are carefully evaluated and researched
before they are honored. A special effort is made to keep an updated
list of all approved agencies, and additions or deletions are made when
deemed appropriate.
SPECIAL MINISTRIES REPORT
At our Sunday, October 5th, 2008 meeting, we chose to make the following donations:
$250 to Doctors On Call for Service. DOCS organizes valuable training and educational programs for local doctors in Africa with visiting physician specialists. DOCS also provides university credentialed residency training for physicians serving in areas of Africa where it has not been possible for them to specialize.
$250 to Cape Cod Big Brothers Big Sisters. They currently have 318 Big/Little matches on the Cape, as well as 114 matches between high school and elementary school students; that’s a total of 432 children. unfortunately, they have over 300 children waiting for a Big Brother or Sister, two thirds of which are boys.
$250 to The Widow’s Friend. The Widow’s Friend is a faith based organization which provides shelter, support, medical and child care in Bangladesh.
$250 to CapeAbilities. CapeAbilities provides jobs, housing, therapeutic services, education, transportation and community opportunities for over 200 Cape Codders with disabilities, from Bourne to Provincetown.
$300 to Angel Flights NE. Founded in 1996, Angel Flights NE is a group of volunteers who combine their passion for flying with the dream of providing access to medical care to those in need. With 6 full-time staff, 2 part-time staff and over 1,100 volunteer pilots they schedule over 5,000 flights per year throughout the Northeast.
$200 to Christian Children’s Fund. CCF provides programs for children and their families in 31 countries and parts of the United States. The programs include basic education, health and sanitation, emergencies, early childhood development, micro enterprise and nutrition. Program expenses are 82% of their income.
Brian Rixham, Chair
SPECIAL MINISTRIES
OVERNIGHT’S OF HOSPITALITY
It’s that time of the year again when the weather is getting colder that we begin to be concerned about our homeless population on the Cape. So, it is appropriate that I write about The Overnights of Hospitality. It began seven years ago when Jean Fitton, Jesse Mazzur, Judy Gardner and I slept over on a blow up mattress with six homeless women at the Federated Church in Hyannis to test out whether we wanted to get involved with this idea. We still laugh about that night! But the idea caught on and now, over 40 churches and synagogues on Cape Cod from Falmouth to Orleans have provided 23,000 beds and served 426 women and men who might have been on the streets on those nights. It’s been a great blessing to get to know and care about “our guys” who are in these straits and are so vulnerable to the elements and all that goes with homelessness. So we all cheer when we hear about one of them who has been able to move into a rental apartment or house because that’s the goal of the program. I just learned recently that this year, 96 people have moved into permanent housing; 45% were guests of the “Overnights” program.
So I want to thank everyone who is involved in this mission. Len Heaney, for the wonderful new shelves for the sheets; Kevin Baker, for the fluffy clean pillow cases and left-over meals from the Community Supper; Tom Portagallo, Bill Wade and Jesse Mazzur for helping me with the rides back and forth to Hyannis; Alan Taylor who has been washing the dirty sheets for at least 6 years and Anne Church who is willing to help with this task in the future. And special thanks to Jennifer Dawson, Nancy Gravelle, Elizabeth Rixham, Kevin Baker, Robb Parke and Art Kimber for their commitment to sleeping over and serving breakfast when needed.
Susan Reid for Special Ministries
