02/07/2024 0 Comments
Updates on our Ministries to the Vulnerable: From The Vicar
Updates on our Ministries to the Vulnerable: From The Vicar
# From The... - Letters to the Congregation
Updates on our Ministries to the Vulnerable: From The Vicar
Dear ones of St. Columba's,
I want to update you all on our two primary ministries to our vulnerable neighbors: Food Bank and the ReachOut Shelter. The most important takeaway is that both are and will continue, with God's help and with your support! Read on for updates on each one.
Reach Out Shelter: Your Bishop's Committee and I have agreed to allow the shelter to continue here through the month of April, as the need for shelters for the unhoused has become even more urgent with the outbreak of COVID-19. In addition we are collaborating with Reach Out to put stronger safety measure in place to protect our shelter residents. These include discontinuing the hospitality ministry that many of you have participated in each evening - there will be one designated staff person who will interface with the shelter a few times a week. The site managers will be able to let themselves in with a door code that will change weekly. The men will continue to receive dinner each night, but it will be prepared and delivered in individual containers. Finally, beginning as soon as this weekend there will be daily professional cleaning of the areas of our building that are used by the shelter - a wonderful protective measure paid for by a grant from the city of Federal way.
Food Bank. Many of you are already aware through your buddy groups that our food bank ministry continues and that we once again forging ahead without the support of King County Emergency Food Services. KCEFS has had to stop preparing, packing, and delivering food because almost all of their volunteers are in the high risk age group, and need to stay home. We are very blessed as a community to have four dedicated volunteers who are keeping food bank open, and a network of younger people willing to shop. Susie Woodard has taken on the organizational task of our food bank at this time, and I am so grateful for her leadership. We have some funds available to spend on food for the food bank as well, so if you are already shopping and can pick up some of the staples the food bank needs please let your buddy group captain know and they will connect you to Susie for delivery. We have seen a significant increase in people coming to us for food during this crisis. We are also responding with measures designed to keep our food bank patrons and volunteers safer, and have moved to a drive up service - food bank guests stay in their cars and our volunteers get their information and bring the food to them. We are able to maintain social distance, and of course are operating with the recommended "gel in and gel out" procedures as well.
I also want you to know that in response to the Stay at Home order, I have instructed staff of St. C's to work exclusively from home whenever possible. Meghan, Martin, and myself will be in the building on Sunday morning for livestream worship, but otherwise no staff people other than me will be in our building, and no congregants other than our food bank volunteers and our very small worship crew will be in the building at all. Our bishop has confirmed with our state government that livestreaming worship is considered essential and that clergy are considered essential personnel, - so for the time being we can continue to to offer our Sunday worship in the way we have been doing it the past two weeks. I will let you know if this changes.
Thank you for continuing to support this community. We stay connected. We stay church. We take care of each other.
with hope,
Alissa
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