SPOTLIGHT ON OUTREACH
The role of the Outreach Board is to help fulfill our church's mission to the community, nation and the world. The Outreach Board allocates and directs disbursement of budgeted funds for missions, and facilitates personal involvement in mission work, evangelism, fundraising, and educational events related to mission giving and/or volunteerism. Our immediate goal is to identify key Outreach initiatives that are diverse, reflecting the diversity of our congregation, that inspire more members (adult and youth) to become involved. And that allow us to truly make a difference. Through these efforts, we attempt to do as Christ would have us do, and as best as we possibly can: to serve those less fortunate.
Reminder: The third Sunday of each month is Food Basket Sunday. Donations of non-perishable food for Gifts of Love may be brought to worship and placed on the communion table in lieu of flowers.
Some of the places we contribute to include:
UCC - Basic Support Our Church's Wider Mission
Church World Service
UCC Connecticut Conference
Farmington Valley Association
Face to Face Camp
Gifts of Love
Covenant to Care & DCF/New Britain
Christian Activities Council
Hartford Elementary Schools (Thanksgiving Dinner, school supplies)
Interval House
Avon Social Services
Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity
Hartford Center for Conflict Transformation
Loaves & Fishes Ministry
Our Core Mission Recipients are highlighted below:
Spotlight on Interval House:
Interval House is a non-profit organization that provides free and confidential support services to victims of domestic violence. They help victims end the violence in their lives through advocacy, support groups, shelter and other services. Interval House is dedicated to providing services to prevent and break the cycle of family and intimate partner abuse. They strive to reach all persons at risk and bring about social change. Interval House was founded in 1977 and has served more than 140,000 victims of domestic violence mostly women and their children who are being psychologically or physically battered by their intimate partner. 8000 to 12,000 clients are served each year from Interval House's 3 satellite offices and their shelter in Hartford.
Services include:
- 24-hour hotline staffed by a volunteer or paid crisis counselor/ advocate
- Safety Planning and Domestic Violence Counseling
- Emergency shelter for women and their children shelters 250-350 women and their children per year
- Support Groups
- Court Advocacy
- Programs for Children in the community and in the shelter
- Community Education
- Information and Referral
Interval House offers options, support and connections to victims of domestic violence. Every day they stand with abused women and children in their struggle for safety and justice. They give them concrete information and educate them so they understand what's been happening to them, utilize other community resources, and empower themselves.
Spotlight on Gifts of Love:
One of our core missions is Gifts of Love. Their brochure summarizes their mission as follows:
Gifts of Love serves families who are facing a short-term crisis in their lives; the loss of a job, reduced work hours, illness, divorce, death of a mate, and domestic abuse, but do not qualify for government support. By helping people meet their families' most basic needs - food on the table, a winter coat, or a bed to sleep in - we enable them to focus on putting their lives back in order and regaining financial independence. This basic mission has become increasingly difficult with the recent welfare program, the sluggish economy and the rapid rise in the cost of basic needs such as home heating oil and gas prices.
At WACC, we have helped the Gifts of Love clients, who are hard-working people who simply can't make ends meet, in many ways. Specifically, on an on-going basis, we help them with the food and toiletries donated the third Sunday of every month. Gifts of Love also welcomes linens, in-season clothing, household goods and furniture. Small items can be left in the school bus in our front hallway.
Spotlight on Christian Activities Council:
Spotlight on Department for Children's Service Covenant to Care program:
Please join me in welcoming the following new members to the Outreach Board: Ryan Budde (youth representative), Jeanne Clifford, Judi Cyr, Ruth Epner, Karen Mealey (treasurer), and Jamie Scarlett.
HELP NEEDED TO FILL THE GAPS
Dear Friends,
I am a very part time staff member at Gifts of Love. The longer I work there the more I can see ways to help. Gifts of Love needs food contributions more than ever! Last spring, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our Farmington Valley neighbors, Gifts of Love received hundreds of bags of food from two Post Offices during the Stamp Out Hunger campaign. Personally, I thought there was enough food to last all summer long. I have never been so wrong! By June half of the food had already been distributed to client families. The need is that great. Enormous food drives provide a wide variety in food for a short time. But before long there are gaps on the shelves. For instance, in early June we ran out of jelly. We could get peanut butter through Foodshare, but no jelly. It takes both ingredients to make a kid's favorite sandwich. The new Fill the Gaps program is designed to help Gifts of Love stock specific products lacking in its Food Pantry supplies.Each Sunday the bulletin will list a specific food item needed to Fill the Gaps. If you can help, bring your contributions the following Sunday or leave them in the school bus by the office at any time. Naturally, Gifts of Love will gladly take any non-perishable food products along with your Fill the Gaps contributions.
General Guidelines for Giving: When choosing container sizes, keep in mind that two medium sized containers will feed two families where only one family benefits from an extra large container. While shopping, consider Buy One, Give One rather than Buy One, Get One. And watch those expiration dates! Gifts of Love cannot stock its shelves with expired food.
Gifts of Love clients are hard working families, friends and neighbors who are experiencing a temporary crisis in their lives. We seek to help them through the rough patch so they can achieve and maintain self-sufficiency. As many hands make light work, so do a few food products from many people feed more needy families. It's Families Helping Families at its best!
Thanks for helping Fill the Gaps,
Jennifer Aldag
Covenant to Care for Children The main initiative,A
West Avon Congregational Church has worked with our adopted social worker, Frank Fortuna for 8 years. Frank and some of the youth on his caseload will be visiting our congregation in January to remind us how much our involvement means to them. Last year, Alixes and Heather visited the congregation and Frank has sent us an update on their lives: Alixes is a junior the University of New Haven. He is also a single father raising his daughter. Alixes recently completed an internship in Washington DC and has been accepted to attend next summer as well. While in Washington, he served on the Non Profit Congregational Coalition for the Adoption Institute. Heather completed her mission with the Foster Care All Star Committee. She traveled throughout the country over the summer leading conferences to educate young people in care about their rights in the foster care system. She plans to pursue a degree in cosmetology.