Outreach and Social Action Committee
2009 Annual Report
I simply cannot believe that my second year of chairing this committee has gone by so fast - and a busy year it has been!
I continue to be very proud of our Youth. They continue to collect large amounts of food annually for the Stoney Creek Food Bank, and they succeed in topping themselves by raising over $3,000 for the Case For Kids Run/Walk for Wesley Centre.
We are very pleased to welcome Margaret Mazhandu to our committee. Through Margaret, we are helping her community in Zimbabwe by sending funds to help build a women’s building. It is my hope that we can send more money from our budge this year.
In July, we had an excellent turn out of volunteers to assist with the Wesley Urban Ministries dinner. If my memory serves me correct, I believe we served in the vicinity of 290 meals. On the menu was lasagna, rolls, salad and cookies, along with pop, coffee and tea. Thank you to Janet Jefferies and her team of volunteers for all your assistance. Christabel came down to play the hymns for us and Rev. Bob Nightingale led the service. It is a lot of work but very rewarding.
As my kitchen was “under construction” from September to December, I could not hold a “welcome back” event at my house. Instead, the group met at the Village Inn Restaurant for Christmas Dinner before our November meeting. I am planning a Corn Roast in late August again at my house.
Under the direction of Janet Cumming, we held two more successful soup lines in January and February. We raised over $800 towards our Foster Children. We are excited to announce that we’ve taken on a second Foster Child and her name is Urbi. As Manju has now grown up and moved on, we have been given Sendi. Many delicious gourmet soups were made and enjoyed, along with some fabulous desserts.
I have taken a little bit of pride in keeping our Outreach Bulletin Board up to date. Please take a moment to look at our board. The minutes of our meetings have been posted there, along with pictures of our various events.
At Christmas, the Stewardship Committee initiated a very successful 'Mission and Service' Fundraiser. Even though 'Mission and Service' is “officially” a part of Outreach, in our church, it is considered a part of Stewardship because it involves raising money.
Every time we have Communion, a Benevolent collection is taken up and set aside for the minister to distribute as he sees necessary. This is a helpful fund for Rev. Bob to use for anything from someone who may be going through hard times and needs transportation to an important appointment, or someone who needs a hot meal. Whatever miscellaneous need that comes to Rev. Bob's attention, everything helps. Your ongoing generosity helps make this job easier for our minister. Alex Gordon has been in charge of arranging volunteers to take up the Benevolent fund. This year, Linda Denman has offered to take over organizing volunteers. I would like to offer Alex our sincerest thanks for his many years of service. And thank you to Linda for agreeing to take this over.
At this time, I would like to thank each and every committee member for all their hard work this year. You make my job so easy! We have a great committee who are a pleasure to work with. Once again, I wish to thank every dedicated individual in our church who donates their time and talent to Outreach and Social Action. We can stand proud that our church does make a positive difference in this church. Keep up the great work!
We welcome not only your ideas and suggestions, but if you are interested in becoming a member of this committee, you are most welcome. Please feel free to contact either myself or the Nominations Committee under the direction of the past chair of Council (currently Deborah Cook).
God Bless,
Sue Gilbert
Outreach and Social Action Chair
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