Outreach - St. Mark's Lutheran Church

2010 Outreach Calendar

January: PADS - Collection of institutional size cans of beans, fruit cocktail & boxes of rice.

February: Bowling for Big Brothers & Big Sisters; Souper Bowl Sunday - Confirmation students collecting monetary donations (used locally to help combat hunger); Lent begins: Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) - M&M Banks; Habitat for Humanity - Chili cook-off.

March: Foods Resource Bank - Pancake breakfast; Continue Lenten Banks for FMSC; FMSC service date on 3/29/10 - Packing meals.

April: Begin Mother's Day dedications - Kids Around the World (Building Playgrounds); FMSC Lenten Banks due by 4/4/10.

May: Continue Mother's Day dedications (Kids Around the World - Building Playgrounds); Blackberry Farm Plant Sale - Courtyard cleanup; Lutheran Advocacy Illinois - Advocacy and justice awareness; Begin Father's Day dedications - To provide men's Prison Ministry supplies: notebook paper, folders, stamps, etc. for Joliet.

June: Continue Father's Day dedications (Prison Ministry); Fox Valley Hospice - Fund raiser for Herbie's Friends.

July: Lydia's Piecemakers - Quilting for Lutheran World Service; Supporting Our Troops - Requested item donations

August: Collection of school supplies.

September: Collection of gently used coats; Interfaith Food Pantry - Nonperishable food donations.

October: Random Acts of Kindness - Sharing Christ's abundant love with the community; Crop Walk - Fighting hunger.

November: Volunteers for Salvation Army bell ringing.

December: Angel Tree - Christmas gifts.

COFFEE GIVEAWAY!

Coffee Project Marks 10th Year

10 years ago St. Mark's launched the Coffee Project with $400 in seed money from AAL. Since then, a loyal group of coffee sellers and customers have moved over $21,000 in Equal Exchange coffee and chocolate products. $2,120 net proceeds from sales have supported St. Mark's outreach efforts, including $1,300 for Youth Mission Trips alone. The primary beneficdiaries of this effort have been the independent farmer cooperatives in Latin America and Africa where the coffee beans and cocoa beens are grown. With a source of steady income from fair-trade prices, they are able to plan production and provide for family needs such as education for their children and better living conditions.

In recognition of this special anniversary, during the months of January, February and March each customer will receive an entry in a drawing for each bag of coffee or chocolate bar purchased. The names of winners of 10 bags of coffee and 10 chocolate bars will be drawn on April 18 after the 9:30 a.m. worship service ( you need not be present).

Help us close out our 10th anniversary year with record sales, especially if you haven't tried our coffee and chocolate before!

LYDIA'S PIECEMAKERS - LWR QUILTERS

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 23

Lydia's Piecemakers Quilting Group will be meeting in the kitchen and hall in the basement. Please join us!

In January we assembled four quilts from the tops you have sewn. They are now ready to be tied by residents at Jennings Terrace. They get such joy from their contribution! They share stories and imagine where the quilts are going and who will be warmed by them.

We also cut fabric for 10 piecemaker packets--look for them in a basket by the Outreach bulletin board. There were six of us at the January meeting. Just think how much more we could accomplish with your help.

We always welcome contributions of fabric, blankets and sheets. Don't forget we are accepting donations for the layettes we are assembling for mothers around the world. We are looking for receiving blankets, cloth diapers, onesies, sleepers, sweaters, and sweatshirts (size 0 to 24 months). We are also looking for donations of yarn and crafters who would like to knit or crochet sweaters for the layettes.

Thank you to everyone who supports our efforts.

If you have any questions or donations, contact Virginia Biltgen.

St. Mark's hosts PADS

March 13th and 14th

VOLUNTEER FOR 1 OF 3 SHIFTS :

6:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
11:00 p.m. - 3:00 a.m.
3:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m.
Sign Up at the Welcome Center!
When we host PADS, we also provide a craft or game time for children staying at PADS. If you can help with activity time from 7:15 to 9:30 p.m. please volunteer at the Welcome Center, or call Janet Guinnane.

PADS is always in need of hotel size soap and shampoo, lightly used bath towels, wash cloths and sheets. Please contact Janet Guinnane at to donate these items (do not leave them at church).

Harvesting Hope

The therapeutic play group is in need of immediate additional volunteers on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. If you can help, please contact Hesed House at (630) 897-2156, extension 247.

Transportation Committee

Folks are needed for the transportation team...driving a guest to a dental or doctor appointment, or helping with a much anticipated move. If you can help, call Hesed House at (630) 897-2156, extension 247.

Working Together . . . We Make a Difference
The spirit is at work in our community, helping us reach out beyond ourselves. We are honored to be a congregation whose ministry truly extends outward to the whole world through our mission partnerships.
At. St. Mark's in Aurora, we are passionate about connecting the WORDS of faith with WORKS of love. These works take many forms: advocacy, volunteering, item contributions, and financial support. Cooperation and teamwork make it all possible.
Join us in continuing to bring hope to the hopeless by sharing the abundance of Christ's love.

March is Foods Resource Bank Month!
Presentations regarding this extraordinary ministry will be made at all worship services the weekends of March 6 & 7 and March 27 & 28.
Plan to come to the Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, March 28 from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. in Sanctuary Hall. There will be a free will offering to raise additional funds to benefit FRB.
Tickets will be available for a special quilt made by Kalico Kwilters of Yorkville to be auctioned on Harvest Day in October.
See you there!

LENTEN MINISTRY

The Outreach Team is offering the opportunity to purchase tubes of mini M&Ms for $1.00 after worship services on Saturday evenings and between services on Sunday.
Once the candy is enjoyed, use the empty tubes as quarter banks. Each full tube will hold $13.00 in quarters. When the banks are filled, you can bring them back to St. Mark's and deposit them in the water bottle bank in the Narthex. Monies donated through this Lenten ministry will benefit Feed My Starving Children.
Also, mark the date! We will be packing food at the Feed My Starving Children facility in Aurora on March 29 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. This is the first day of Spring Break and would be a wonderful opportunity for a family event.

St. Mark's continues to host PADS the 2nd Saturday of each odd-numbered month. Each time we host, we prepare dinner for up to 200 men, women, and children. Our menu is the same each time. We serve cranberry chicken over rice with green beans and fruit cocktail. Members of Rejoice Lutheran Church of Geneva, our PADS partner, prepare the chicken dish. St. Mark's supplies the nonperishable items.

For each meal, we use the following:
5 Boxes - Minute Rice (72 oz. box)
6 Cans - Fruit Cocktail (6-7 lb. can)
6 Cans - Green Beans (6-7 lb. can)
We would like to collect enough of these nonperishable items to take us through the entire year. That's 6 months of dinners. Items can be purchased at Sam's Club, Gordon Food Service (GFS), CostCo and Woodmans. Sam's Club regularly stocks the 72 ounce rice while the other stores do not. To donate any of these food items, look for our PADS display in the Narthex. Please leave your items in the box provided. The display board will keep track of the number of items donated and let you know when we have reached our goal.
Thanks to all those who volunteered their time to work at PADS this past year! A special thanks to Jim, Linda, Nicki and Julie McArdle who have volunteered each month.
If you would like to be a PADS volunteer, please look for our sign up sheet at the Welcome Center, where you will find a brochure with information about the PADS program. If you would like to learn more, please contact Janet Guinnane.