Outreach Committee Members: Jim Willhite - Chairperson, Don Herres - Vestry Coordinator, Peter Winkler, Kathy Byrum, Jim Hughes, Maria Dawson, Anne Whyte, and Bill Lambert.
Outreach at Christ Church is local, national, and international. We are focusing on programs where we at Christ Church have particular connection.
Our chief overseas project continues to be our support for the Episcopal Church and our diocese in particular for efforts in El Salvador. The committee hosted Noah Bullock in the late Spring of 2009 when he presented his work through Cristosal in El Salvador.
Following the recent earthquake in Haiti, the parish gave over $1900 in a collection effort with funds sent to the Episcopal Relief and Development.
Christ Church contributed to the Salvation Army Christmas collect for the Tree of Lights. This was a portion of the Christmas Bureau run by the United Way and helped 14,000 people in Onondaga County this past year.
Plans for 2010 include: Vera House White Ribbon Campaign (April 9-18), UTO "Blue Box" in gathering (May 23 and in the Fall), Crop Walk (October 17), Salvation Army Tree of Lights (November) and the continuing efforts for Grace and FM Food Pantries and the ABC House.
We have added a major project for October 16, a benefit for the "Until the Harvest" project in El Salvador. This will be a evening event to aid the efforts by the Cristosal Foundation (Noah Bullock Director) to improve the water supply in El Carmen, the village where he has been working for several years. We have previously helped build a bridge so they had access to markets for their farm products. We supported the development of family sized gardens so their nutrition could be improved. Now we want to help significantly improve their water supply to improve their quality of life and to provide a stable water supply for their gardens.
This project directly addresses several of the Millennium Goals of the Episcopal Church and the UN.
UN Millennium Goals Adopted by the Episcopal Church
- Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education
- Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women
- Goal 4 Reduce child mortality
- Goal 5 Improve maternal health
- Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and
- other diseases
- Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability
- Goal 8 Develop a global partnership for development
Thank you for your support.