Second round of Outreach Grants awarded

At its October 27 quarterly meeting, the Outreach Team voted to disburse the remainder of the funds ($5,025) allocated to it by the vestry for this calendar year in the following ways.

$40 to Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church - This donation helps defray costs of coffee and other supplies for the host church where we will be serving in December.

$485 to GraceInside - In Virginia, prison chaplains are not state employees and must depend on private donations and fundraising to pay their salaries.  This donation fits hand-in-hand with our KAIROS mission.  https://graceinside.org/

$500 to LINK/PORT - LINK is a non-profit, volunteer organization founded in 1990 and committed ever since to ending the cycle of poverty through a variety of different programs.  This donation will make an immediate impact as LINK prepares for the challenges of helping the underprivileged and homeless, particularly as we approach the colder months of the year, and the PORT program begins its 27th year of serving the peninsula.  http://www.linkhr.org/

$1000 to THRIVE Peninsula - a non-profit organization committed to assisting Virginia Peninsula families and individuals through difficult times.  Much of this money may be spent to fill the food pantry which functions more like a grocery store where those needing assistance can "shop" for food items.  http://thrivepeninsula.org/

$1000 to the Bishop of South Sudan - Our own Rev. Anne Kirchmier and her husband, Rev. Dr. John Herbst, remain close friends with one of Anne's seminary classmates who is now the Bishop of South Sudan.  The Rt. Rev. Joseph Garang Atem has started a microfinance project in his Renk Diocese, and this money will support that mission. For more information about Bishop Joseph and his diocese (formed in 2017), go to https://www.episcopalchicago.org/at-work-in-the-world/global-mission/diocese-of-renk) 

$1000 to the Bishop of the Bahamas - Hurricane Dorian hit the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama on Saturday, 31 August and Sunday, 1 September as a category 5 monster storm, unprecedented and extensive.  The actual damage is incomprehensible: tens of miles of infrastructure, thousands of buildings decimated and hundreds of acres of cropland destroyed.  It will take years to rebuild both islands. The most heartbreaking thing is the humanitarian crisis with more than 65,000 people in upheaval or displaced, suffering and anguished. This reality will cause mass evacuation as the wounded economy terrain cannot sustain the current population. As a response to The Rt. Rev. Laish Boyd's (Bishop of the Bahamas) appeal, we disburse these funds and hope they can assist in providing desperately needed relief in such a devastated area.  http://bahamaspress.com/2019/09/08/bishop-boyd-calls-on-the-church-to-keep-prayerful-in-the-aftermath-of-hurricane-dorian-as-parishes-organize-one-of-the-greatest-moves-to-the-recovery-of-people-on-grand-bahama-and-abaco/

$1000 to remain in place to help cover shipping/handling costs for items to be shipped to schools or other organizations as determined by the Building Implementation Team. Many school-related items remain in the building awaiting final decisions regarding where they will be sent.  If we learn, for example, that Holy Cross Anglican School in Belize can use some of these items, we want to have the funding available to ensure that these donations can reach their recipients without any additional requirements for covering shipping and handling costs. Specific information will be shared as decisions are made regarding how and where to donate remaining school items.

If you'd like more information about any of the above organizations (or would like to make an individual donation), please contact a member of the Outreach Team.