Backpacks and Totes Needed: Faith, in cooperation with Arlington’s Offender Aid and Restoration organization (OAR) is now collecting new and / or gently used backpacks, totes, sports bags, etc. These will be given to newly released prisoners to carry their belongings. With these carry-alls, we will send our prayers that God will indeed aid and restore each ex-offender as he/she works to reenter society. Leave your donations by the Jackson Street entry in the container provided.
Homeless Ministry Donations: Thanks to you in our Faith Family for recent donations to the Homeless Ministry. On Saturday, June 14, we were able to provide new socks and underwear, personal care items and t-shirts to the dozens of homeless who came to the feeding locations. They had suffered from the extreme heat earlier in the week and were exceedingly grateful for the food, water, and the extras we provided. When each of us cares and does a little, we together can do a lot to provide for God's children who are especially needy and vulnerable.
Each month as we distribute meals to the homeless in Arlington we receive requests for non-food items. If you can help us help them we would be most grateful. In the Fellowship Hall there is a box labeled for the following items.
Gently used / new T shirts (medium to dark colors please)
Travel-size foot or body powder
Other travel-size toiletries and individual packets / samples
New / used backpacks, totes, sports bags. Etc.
Gardeners Needed to Help Feed Arlington’s Needy
The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC)
is again this year asking local gardeners to grow fruits and vegetables to help
the hungry in Arlington. AFAC – the largest food pantry in Arlington -- will
again provide free seeds to those gardeners willing to donate all or a portion
of what they grow. This year is the second in AFACs local effort to obtain more
fresh produce for the families it serves. It is part of the national Plant A Row
for the Hungry program in which gardeners are urged to donate a portion of their
vegetables and fruits to local food pantries such as AFAC. “Last year we
received more than 34,000 pounds of fresh produce,” said Puwen Lee, the AFAC
staff member who coordinates the Plant A Row effort. “We hope the enthusiasm and
generosity of local gardeners will bring in even more produce this summer.” AFAC
Executive Director Christine Lucas noted that almost 800 needy families come to
AFAC each week for free supplemental groceries. That’s an increase of 20–25%
over the same period last year.
In the coming growing season, AFAC hopes to enlist more community gardeners and
schools in this gardening effort, as well as to collect more leftover produce
from vendors at Arlington farmers’ markets and from the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning
Network (MAGNET).
To help in obtaining more produce for Arlington’s needy families or to obtain free seeds for an individual or community Plant A Row plot, call Puwen Lee at (703) 845-8486 or send an email to afacpuwen@aol.com.
Arlingtonians Meeting Emergency Needs (AMEN) needs you!
AMEN has several openings for new volunteers for one day a month, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm to take phone calls in their homes from social workers, to grant requests for prescriptions, past-due rent, or utilities or other items needed by Arlington residents with emergency financial difficulties. Volunteers must have some computer skills (to record requests in the AMEN laptop) and be able to deliver the computer to the next-day’s volunteer. One to two- hour training sessions are available, as well as continued support. Reward: Giving away $1,000 a day! To volunteer, or for more information about this rewarding opportunity to help others, please call either of the Daily Volunteer Coordinators, Sherry Foster (528-6420) or Edie Smolinski (405-2489).
Village of Hope Mission Trip: Planning is underway for Faith's trip to Haiti November 6-11. We are asking that members of the Faith community commit to going to Haiti by April 30th. After that time, we will open it up to other local churches. Please contact Jill at jillmzimmerman@comcast.net for more information. For more information see Village of Hope below.
Ministry to the Homeless: The next opportunity to help with the Homeless Bagged Meal is Saturday, July 12. Meal preparation begins at around 1 p.m. and the meals are distributed in Clarendon and Rosslyn beginning at 5:30 p.m.
To get involved with these ministries to Arlington's homeless, contact Jill at 703-528-2378. For more information, see A-SPAN below.
The Social Concerns report for 2007 provides an overview of projects and programs we hope to support in 2008. We received great feedback from members during the congregational budget forum, with many of those ideas incorporated into the 2008 plan. Among the organizations Faith members support both financially and through volunteering are the following:
A-SPAN
Doorways
Angel Tree Program
Family Food Freezer
Meals on Wheels
Art for Humanity
FISH
Just Neighbors Ministry
Local and Worldwide Emergency Projects
Village of Hope (Haiti)
Good News Prison Ministry
LSS: Camp Safe Haven
AFAC
A-SPAN (Arlington Street
People's
Assistance Network)
Homeless Bagged Meal Program: Preparers will be responsible for making 60 bagged meals (2 sandwiches, a drink, some type of snack, a fruit and a dessert) the afternoon of serving (we usually meet at 2:00 p.m.). Servers will pick up the bagged meals at Church and a hot meal from the Sullivan House (which is located in Clarendon) by 5:30. The servers will need to arrive at the first of two locations to distribute the meals by 6:00 p.m. and will typically be done with serving by 7:30 p.m. We will be preparing and serving every second Saturday of the month, making our next date Saturday, May 10, 2008.
Emergency Winter Shelter: A-SPAN's emergency winter shelter is located in the Courthouse area of Arlington. The Emergency Winter Shelter closes on March 31. Thanks to all the volunteers who accepted the opportunity for direct contact with the homeless guests of A-SPAN for the past winter.
Donations: There are many ways in which to help our homeless neighbors. Good items to donate would be
Disposable razors,
Tube socks,
Travel size body or foot powder, and
Chapstik.
If you are cleaning our your closet
the Homeless Ministry is also looking for Men’s Sweatshirts,
Sweaters, Long-sleeved shirts, Windbreakers, etc. These are especially
needed in sizes L, XL, XXL. You can put these freshly washed items in
the bins by the Jackson Street Door in the Fellowship Hall. Please
clearly mark all donations and place them in the donation bins in the
Fellowship Hall.
If you'd like to be part of this ministry, please contact Jill at 703-966-1960.
Faith continues to support Doorways for Women and Families (formerly TACTS) throughout the year. In 2007, we provided school supplies and gift cards for the Back to School program, which allowed Doorway's children to purchase new clothing for school. Faith will once again co-sponsor the Annual Winter Wishes party.
Unfortunately, due to high rent, the Doorways Thrift Store closed its doors in late 2006. Please take any donations to the Hospice Thrift Store at the Willston Shopping Center.
The 2006 and 2007 Angel Tree Programs supported several new charities: School supplies were sent to the Katrina devastated St. Bernard's Parish, and gift wrap, tape, and packing supplies were provided to the Offender Aid Relief so that parents who are incarcerated could send Christmas gifts to their children. Perennial favorites include sock and underwear collections for A-SPAN and gift cards for Doorways.
Faith Family Freezer is a new project for 2008 and one that was presented at the congregational budget forums. The Family Freezer will be stocked with meals that can be provided to members of the Faith Family when they are in need of a helping hand.
Since this is a new ministry, we are looking for people to help us stock the freezer with individual and family-sized meals. This can be a one-time or ongoing effort.
Many thanks to the faithful few who regularly deliver Meals on Wheels on the fourth Monday of each month: Dick and Lida, Carl and Erna, Carl, Cindy, Susan and Marvin, Jim, and Elmer. Also a big thank you to Floyd and Leo for their years of service, but for health reasons are currently unable to participate.
During the past year, others have filled in for the regulars when they were ill or on vacation. We need to add people to this list. If you are interested and able, please contact Kay at (703) 379-0445 or by e-mail at bnk8@earthlink.net. Here's what the volunteers do.
WHAT CAN
YOU DO TO HELP? Volunteers can serve in any of three ways:
1.
Dispatchers: report at the church about 10:30 a.m.; help check in
drivers, troubleshoot problems, etc. Training provided.
2. Drivers: a valid driver’s license and vehicle is required. You are
assigned a specific route; be at the church by 11:00 a.m. and are
usually finished by 1:00 p.m.
3. Riders: We often need people to ride with other drivers.
If you'd like to be part of this wonderful ministry to the homebound in our community, please call Kay at 703-379-0445.
Art for Humanity, a non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to assisting the poor people of Honduras, is accepting donations of used computer equipment. Their minimum requirements are: Pentium II (although III is preferred), and can include CPUs, printers, keyboards and/or mice. Sorry, no MACs - PCs only. No monitors unless they are LCD flat screen. Hard drives are erased and a new Spanish-language operating system installed before shipment to Honduras.
Shoes! AFH is also seeking donations of new or gently used shoes. Your contribution will make a BIG difference in the lives of the poor in Honduras, the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. A pair of used shoes allows a poor child to attend school and allows an adult to get a job. A pair of shoes also promotes better health through a reduction in soil borne parasites as well as infections from cuts. Closed toe, tie-type shoes are needed. Tennis shoes are greatly appreciated. Both adult and children sizes are needed. Children and youth sizes are especially needed. Size 11 and larger are not needed. Collection bins are located by the entrance to the Sanctuary and in the Fellowship Hall/Jackson Street entrance.
Monetary Donations: The IRS has granted Art for Humanity the status of a 501c(3) non-profit organization. For tax purposes, Art for Humanity gladly provides receipts for all donations. To donate money or goods, contact Dave at 703-671-5440 or flcscheduler@hotmail.com.
FISH (For Immediate Sympathetic Help)
FISH volunteers provide help to people with unexpected, temporary needs and nowhere else to turn for assistance. Through the use of an answering service, helpers work anonymously to solve all kinds of problems. Can you periodically receive telephone calls in your home or provide transportation with your car? If you can
Be a driver for a client to an appointment in your car...
Deliver food once a week or once every six weeks...
Take calls one night between 8 and 9 pm at your home about every six weeks to give to the next day's drivers...
WE NEED YOU! FISH volunteers are not professionals in community service work. They are people like you, living in your own area, who believe in, and wish to put into practice the ancient admonition, “Help Thy Neighbor.” Sponsors of FISH have employed a telephone answering service. The operator will have a list of persons who are standing by on particular days to receive calls. They will put the person in need of assistance in touch with a friendly interested person, the leader of a team of volunteers, who wants to give all possible help. In the FISH program the emphasis is on emergency help. FISH cannot duplicate the work of established public and private community service agencies, nor will it be able to provide help over long periods, or provide assistance involving money. But FISH can, in time of need, put you in touch with concerned people who want to help and who in many instances can help
If you want more information please call FISH at 703-501-3474. Leave your name, phone number, and the name of your church (but you don’t need to be a church member). The coordinator for FISH here at Faith is Phyllis. You may call her at 703-524-6232. Thank you!
Just Neighbors Immigration Legal Services is a tax-exempt organization whose mission is to provide immigration legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees of all faiths and nationalities through their offices in Northern Virginia. Through community outreach efforts and volunteer programs, Just Neighbors fosters mutual understanding between immigrants and the larger community in which they live.
Just Neighbors seeks volunteers to provide general administrative and IT support, translation and interpretation services, and paralegal and attorney support. Volunteering a few hours a month at Just Neighbors not only benefits the organization and its clients, but is also rewarding for the volunteers.
Just Neighbors staffs an evening community clinic monthly at the Arlington and Herndon offices. If you are someone who would like to volunteer their services for the clinic, Just Neighbors provides supervision and training for volunteers. Point of contact is Dave (703-671-5440) or Just Neighbors at www.justneighbors.org
Local and Worldwide Emergency Projects
Another idea stemming from the congregational budget forum was the need to have emergency funds for both local and worldwide projects and donations. For example, worldwide project funds could be used to send clothing and supplies to Task Force Med/Pharmacy in Afghanistan or emergency supplies for tornado victims in Missouri.
Each year, Faith has two service projects that benefit the Village of Hope School in Haiti: Christmas in Haiti and Back to School. This year, we were blessed to be able to support Lizabeth, who traveled to Haiti, with donations of peanut butter, suitcases and deodorant.
In addition, Faith families continue to sponsor children at the School. We will continue to sponsor the Village of Hope School in 2008 with both service projects and other donations.
Beginning in 2008, Faith will explore the possibilities of starting a mission trip program. In the past, small teams and individuals have taken both domestic and international trips. However, we would like to give anyone who is interested the opportunity to participate in a mission trip. Plans are underway for members of Faith to travel to Haiti from November 6-11. Please contact Jill at jillmzimmerman@comcast.net for more information.
The Good News Prison Ministry continues to need Faith's support. We have several volunteers who work with inmates on a regular basis. In addition, Faith provides reading materials for the prison library. If you would like to learn more about the Good News Prison Ministry, please contact Jim or Lizabeth.
Each August, Lutheran Social Services sponsors Camp Safe Haven for children with HIV/AIDS. This year, Faith provided beach towels, flashlights and over 200 single servings of healthy snacks.
Faith continues to provide canned goods and non-perishable foods to Arlington Food Assistance Center. As of this report, we donated over 800 pounds of food.
From the Deacon....
Thanks to everyone who generously donates their time, treasures, and talents to all of our Social Outreach programs.
Jill Zimmerman
Deacon of Social Concerns
703-966-1960 or jillmzimmerman@comcast.net
Updated on 05/24/2008