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Justice and Peace Time commitment varies. Have an hour, give an hour. Have more, do more. Our Justice & Peace Committee itself meets the 3rd Monday of each month at 7:30 pm Action for Basic Needs Jesse Johnson ~ 474-4073 Personal items are collected year round to be distributed monthly to organizations that St. Mark has a relationship with. Some of these are the St. Mark Food Pantry, Samaritan House, Lighthouse/VOA, Judeo-Christian Outreach Center (JCOC), Catholic Charities and Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC). Christmas Giving Tree Pat Bernier ~ 523-6169 Paper ornaments with specific gift ideas are hung on a Christmas tree in the church commons. Parishioners choose tags and purchase gifts. Families in need are referred by various organizations and pick up gifts of clothing and toys the Sunday before Christmas. Feed Our Neighbor/Winter Shelter Nelson & Ellen Mones ~ 321-7162 A meal (generally this is their only meal of the day) is prepared and served at JCOC (the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center) or other area churches that house the homeless. Food supplies are donated by the parish through food tags, which are hung in the commons the week before the serving date. St. Mark's usually serves 6-8 times a year. JCOC houses and offers support services for many of low income and homeless people. Area churches provide overnight lodging for the homeless through the Volunteers of America program. Food Pantry Lorie Stephan ~ 467-8641 Each week, non-perishable food and monetary donations are collected in a shopping cart in the commons. The monetary donations are used to purchase additional food at the Food bank or sale items at the local grocery stores. The food that is collected and purchased is then stored in our "Food Pantry" to be distributed to individuals who request our assistance. We are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from l0am-Noon. Habitat for Humanity Lorie Stephan ~ 467-8641 This program builds homes through donations of money and time. Carefully screened working families are required to attend classes on money management and earn over 400 "Sweat Equity Hours" (time spent working either on their own home or someone else's) in exchange for a home with an affordable interest free mortgage. Holiday Food Baskets Peggy Williams ~ 416-0010 Brown grocery bags are distributed after masses with tags attached requesting a turkey and the fixings. Returned food is distributed at Thanksgiving and Christmas to families in need. Haiti Twinning Joyce Gridley ~ 495-9440 We work to build relationships, share spiritual and material resources through our formal "Twinning" with Maison Fortune Orphanage in Hinche, Haiti. Our goal is to develop a lifelong bond with our brothers and sisters from Haiti. Justice and Advocacy Program Joyce Gridley ~ 495-9440 We work to move past action and reflection to transformation. Working to change the system as a parish through legislative action. We act to feed the poor, but WHY are they poor? WHY are they homeless? Pro-Life Support Joyce Gridley ~ 495-9440 We work to educate our faith community on abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty through the bulletin, posters, and brochures. We host events such as a Baby Shower to collect baby clothes to be distributed to local organizations, the Baby Bottle Bonanza for Birthright and we participate in the annual "Walk for Life" for the Crisis Pregnancy Center. Relay for Life Lorie Stephan ~ 467-8641 Our Relay team, The St. Mark Lions, works to raise money to support cancer research, offer free testing to those who cannot afford it, and to make the general public more aware of the warning signs of cancer. The Relay takes place every May. Parishioners and friends are encouraged to join the team in this 24 hour overnight walk and in the many fund raising events. Appalachia Project Lorie Stephan 467-8641 or Joyce Gridley 495-9440 We collect warm clothing, hats, scarves, mittens and blankets during July and August. In late August we we load and deliver the articles of clothing to CAP (Christian Appalachian Project) in Hagerville, KY. Heritage United Methodist Church, Mount Sinai Baptist Church and Providence Evangelical Friends Church will all be joining us in this Ecumenical Outreach Ministry. For more information on CAP please visit www.christianapp.org. St Mark participates in the Operation Sharing program. Prison Ministry Father Jim Griffin ~ 479-1010 or Joyce Gridley ~ 495-9440 This is a new ministry that will be evolving as we move forward. We will visit Deerfield Correctional Facility for Mass and community four times in the remainder of 2007. As well as begin working to educate our parish on the Death Penalty and formulate a request for a moratorium. Back to Ministries
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