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.
Outreach Work

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:
Work/Commitment Ministries
Habitat for
Humanity
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.