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Outreach
Through our Outreach work, we engage the world with the love of God in Christ. We are the hands of God in this world and we strive to be agents of peace, love and reconciliation in a world that so desperately needs it. By giving back the life and hope so generously bestowed upon each of us, we hope to further that joy and hope for others, particularly children and the hungry.
These and other ministries are the means by which we live into our Christian faith, express our core values and work toward fulfillment of our mission: to invite all people into an ever-deepening relationship with God in Jesus Christ.
Our commitment to Outreach is strong. We support international projects, food ministries, programs to aid at-risk children, and many local and diocesan organizations with both funds and personal time commitment. You will find a complete list below.
If you would like your organization to be considered for funds, you may apply in the coming months. You are welcome to view our letter about the purpose of the David St. George Outreach Endowment Fund (including this year's application), which is available for download. Please note that the deadline is October 1.
Good Shepherd Home in Bamenda, Cameroon
Founded by Sr. Jane Mankaa and the Benedictine Sisters of Bethany, the Good Shepherd Home is dedicated to educating and caring for children of the streets in Cameroon. Many of these children have lost their parents to the AIDS epidemic. The Home provides a safe environment for them to grow into healthy young men and women. We are actively fundraising to support the children and to raise money for building a new school. Since our initial sponsorship of the orphanage, Sr. Jane has been able to expand and is breaking ground on building the school. People are invited to support individual orphans through monthly sponsorship, and to work to promote the financial well being of the Home.Food Ministries
St. Peter's supports five food ministries on a regular basis throughout the year:
Four times a year, members of St. Peter's work alongside future home owners to construct their homes and thereby create new neighborhoods where people have adequate housing and take pride in their homes. Over the past twenty-one years, Habitat has built over fifty-three homes in the Central Ward of Newark.Apostle's House
Apostle's House, located in Newark, provides shelter for homeless families and services for at-risk families and children. Each year St. Peter's provides back packs and school supplies for children whose families are served by Apostle?s House.Angel Tree
Each year the congregation of St. Peter's helps make Christmas a little brighter for approximately one hundred children in foster care or group housing (Kid's Connection) and children of parents who are incarcerated (PATCH) by purchasing gifts for them from personalized tags taken from the Angel Tree. The Angel Tree is displayed in the back of Church beginning the first Sunday in Advent.Thanksgiving Baskets
Members of St. Peter's Youth organize a drive in November and deliver baskets of food containing all of the components needed to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. As many as fifteen Thanksgiving baskets provided by St. Peter's are distributed to needy families by Caldwell Human Services.YCS Therapeutic Learning Center
Located in East Orange, TLC is New Jersey's only mental health preschool program. Each Christmas eve, the children of our congregation bring gifts which are given to the children of TLC on their birthdays. Additionally, parishioners provide Easter Baskets each year for these children.North Porch
The North Porch Women and Infants' Centers provide seven-day emergency supplies of formula, baby food, diapers and clothing for needy mothers and infants in the Newark, Paterson and Dover areas. St. Peter's collects emergency supplies as well as gently-used clothing and new clothing twice yearly in cooperation with the families of St. Peter's Nursery School.Prison Ministries Camperships
Children whose parents are incarcerated enjoy a summer camp experience sponsored by the Diocese of Newark. Parishioners donate the clothing, camping equipment and toiletries needed for the children to attend camp.Cross Road Scholarships
The Episcopal Church Women group funds scholarships to the Cross Road Camp and Retreat Center, the Diocesan "sleep away" camp for youth and families.Knitting Ministry
Afghans, shawls, baby blankets and hats are knitted by the women of our church and distributed to homeless shelters, rehab centers, area hospitals and given to other people in need.David St. George Outreach Endowment Fund
Initiated by a previous rector, David St. George, this Endowment Fund provides financial support to various local and diocesan charitable organizations active in outreach ministry.
The David St. George Outreach Endowment Fund provides financial support to various local and diocesan charities active in outreach ministries. The grant money allocated by teh David St. George Outreach Committee comes from the interest acrued by teh Fun and a sizable donation from the Saint Peter's OpShop.In early fall, we send grant applications to a number of organizations and post the application on our web site. Information about an organization's mission, financial reports showing income and expenses, a budget for the coming year, and details of how a grant would be used are all part of the application.
A committee of parishioners reviews the grant requests in December, and makes recommendations to the Vestry about allocation of available funds. Special thanks to Tamara Bross, Nancy Collines, Wayne Copeland, June Cowell, Sharon Ellis, Bunny Jenkins, Fred Jenkins, Jill McClain, and Jennifer Vonderahe, who gave their time to prayerfully and graciously review and discuss each of the many applications.
Dana Leach is the Chair for the DSG Outreach Endowment Fund. You may contact Dana to learn more about the Fund or if you are interested in participating in this ministry.In 2014, $24,789 in grants were made to the following organizations:
- Apostle's House in Newark: grant to purchase of food, food panty supplies, and aid in other pantry-related expenses for its food panty in Newark.
- Caldwell Department of Human Services : grant to provide grocery food cards and emergency assistance to food pantry clients.
- CASA for Children of Essex County: grant to support volunteer training of individuals to create durable, positive personal connections for youth aging out of foster care.
- Cedar Hill Community Development Corporation (St. John's Episcopal Church, Boonton): grant to help expand the Community After-School Porgram to include early childhood education, develop programming, resrouces and personnel.
- Christine's Kitchen (Holy Trinity, West Orange): grant to support operation of soup kitchen and food pantry in West Orange.
- Community Food Bank of New Jersey : grant to support its "Backpack Program," which provides supplemental food on weekends to children living in food-insecure homes.
- Faith, Hope and Love Food Pantry (Christ Episcopal Church in Teaneck): grant for purchase of additional food needed to maintain working inventory in food pantry.
- Newark School of Theology : grant provides scholarship for theological student in Newark.
- North Porch: grant helps to buy supplies, pay rent, and pay staff serving needy families with children under three years old.
- St. Paul's Community Development Corporation (St. Paul's Shelter): grant to help pilot a new food pantry within Paterson, Public School #4, recently identified as a high-priority school for hunger assistance.
- St. Peter's Haven : grant to support food pantry needs in Clifton.
- Saint Peter's Rector's Discretionary Fund: grant to be used at the discretion of our rector for outreach ministry.
- Toni's Kitchen (St. Luke's Montclair): grant to aid in hiring additional instructor for Enhance Social Enterprise Program, giving women real-job training, skills, and experience.
- Wynona's House: grant to help fund program support services for Family Advocacy Program that assist children of abuse and their families in Newark.
- Youth Consultation Services (YCS) Therapeutic Learning Center: grant to help fund the cost of newsletter/events to encourage family/parental involvement in this early intervention pre-school program in East Orange.
St. Peter's Youth Mission Trip
Each year St. Peter's Youth (ages 14 - 18) and a few adults undertake a mission trip to demonstrate the love of God in Christ through hands-on activities to rebuild or rehabilitate housing. In recent years, SPY has worked in Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
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© 2015
Saint Peter's Episcopal Church
271 Roseland Avenue
Essex
Fells, NJ 07021
Phone: 973.226.6500
Fax: 973.226.5477
