In November we collected food for Lift-Up, our community food bank. On Halloween we passed out candy in the neighborhood and accepted donations of food and money for Lift Up.
A hallmark of our church is outreach into our local community and throughout the world. One Square Meal is our featured mission emphasis for the Spring and Summer. We use the produce from our community garden plus other donated foods to prepare and serve a nutritious meal to adults and children living in the Machebeuf Apartments. Every Friday June 22 through August 10 we were there, setting up and serving lunch at tables on the lawn. We also provided a crafts table for children. Partnering with Mountain View Church and Catholic Charities, this is truly an ecumenical outreach into our community. This Summer we averaged 30 children and 17 adults, not including about 12 volunteers. The craft table was a big hit.
Other local missions include the following:
Yamaha High School Teen Parent Program with occasional lunches and a yearly diaper and wipes drive and occasional donations of baby blankets.
Lift Up, our food pantry in the Roaring Fork Valley, is our mission emphasis in February. In addition, in 2017 we donated part of our Christmas Eve offering to this worthy mission.
Feed My Sheep – housing for the homeless. We gave $1500 in 2017.
Community Garden – We plant, water, weed, and harvest vegetables from our community garden plot. These are used for One Square Meal, Lift Up donations, and our own congregation.
Worldwide missions include the following:
Presbyterian Disaster Relief – Part of our Christmas Eve offering in 2017 was designated for disaster relief in the USA and part was designated for refugee assistance.
One Great Hour of Sharing is our yearly Lenten emphasis. The children color the fish banks and distribute them to the congregation. They are collected at Easter. The congregation is encouraged to donate generously to this offering, over and above the normal pledges. In 2018 we gave $1,569.45 to One Great Hour of Sharing.
