OUTREACH
St.
Aidan's is sponsoring three
outreach activities this month.
Help is always needed.
This
Sunday, January 8th, we are
serving the Mission of the Holy
Spirit. We need cooks (you cook
at home) to make or provide
lasagna, a salad or cookies.
We need these items at the church
by 2:30 on Sunday. We also need
servers and transportation is
provided if necessary to St.
Stephens in Norfolk. If you
would like to cook or to serve,
please contact Lynn Meadows
at 463-2572.
Sunday,
January 22nd, we will have another
Beach Bag packing party. These
bags full of food are necessary
to provide weekend food for
children facing tough times.
If you can contribute anything
to these bags, please sign up
on the sheet in the parish hall.
Monetary donations are also
welcome. We will pack the bags
up on January 22nd after the
early service.
Sunday
January 29th, we are hosting
a game day and dinner for the
Seton Mentoring Children of
Prisoners program. People are
needed to come play games and/or
to provide food for an early
dinner. Donations to buy a new
card game to send home with
each child are also welcome.
There is a sign-up sheet in
the parish hall.
FAITH WORKS COALITION PROJECT
St. Aidan’s partners with a local faith-based non-profit, Faith Works, that helps homeowners who otherwise could not afford to do so repair their homes at no or low cost. Faith Works relies mainly on volunteer labor, and works on projects that take anywhere from a day to a week to complete. Currently, Faith Works is helping to build a picnic shelter for to feed the homeless near the oceanfront, and will be helping rebuild two homes on the Outer Banks damaged by Irene. If you’d like to get on the e-mail volunteer list to be notified when opportunities arise, please let Fred Parkinson know.
Prior construction experience is not needed – many projects can accommodate people at various skill (or even no skill!) levels. If you know of a homeowner who can’t afford to fix their home, Fred can also get Faith Works to evaluate their situation to see if they can be helped. Visit www.faithworkscoalition.org for more information.
Click here to download a PDF of the two projects that we are working on.
Changing
Lives, Building Futures
The
Seton House Van Outreach Program
travels the city bringing drinks,
snacks, toiletries and a dose
of caring to teenagers who
are choosing life on the street
over a dysfunctional situation
at home. We can help. While
out shopping, please consider
throwing one of these items
in your cart.
Travel
size you name it: soap, shampoo,
conditioner, lotion, lip balm
and sun tan lotion; package
of 8oz cups (no larger); large
container of flavorade; bag
of sugar for Flavorade preparation;
gift card ($5.00) to fast food
restaurants; small container
mosquito spray; packages of
individual wrapped hand wipes;
white athletic socks (crew,
ankle or “no
show” variety);
reams of paper (white, pastel
blue, pink, yellow, green and
lavender), Citgo Gas Gift Cards
to help with fuel expense for
the street outreach vans.
BJ
or Sam’s
Club size pack of identical
snacks (Odd as it may sound,
because of competition amongst
the kids (we don’t
want to play favorites etc)
we need snacks of a certain
size and quantity like pre-packaged
cookies, crackers, and Halloween
size candies).
Please
drop fast food gift cards in
the offering plate or leave
in the office. Leave other items
in narthex.
“Whatsoever
you do to the least of my brothers,
that you do unto me.” (Matthew
25:40)
About Outreach
One recent recipient of St. Aidan's outreach efforts called our church the little church with a big heart. At the end of each service, we are reminded that our service is just beginning. Our parishioners serve in many ways. Here are some of the ministries active at St. Aidan's:
Packages for Soldiers, Beach Bags for Lynnhaven Elementary, Camp Wakonda, Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, Faith Works, Food Pantry, Holiday Ministries at Thanksgiving and Christmas, Meals on Wheels, Mission of the Holy Spirit (the dioceses’ mission in Norfolk), Red Cross Blood Drives, Relay for Life, Seton House (located adjacent to the church), Shawl Ministry, Stop Hunger Now, Youth Mission Trips.
Packages for Soldiers
Many of our members served in the military and many have friends, neighbors and relatives who currently serve. Each week, we pray for loved ones and friends in the military. In November, we sent large envelopes full of cards and well wishes to those who we pray for weekly. We will do this again in 2011.
Beach Bags
This is a program we support that is run by the City of Virginia Beach. Children served qualify for the free lunch and reduced breafasts during the week. The bags are to supplement their diet over the weekend. We pack around 35 bags filled with breakfast and lunch items. For information, contact Lynn Meadows at 463-2572.
Camp Wakonda
Camp Wakonda, our diocesan sponsored camp for children and families affected by HIV/AIDS takes place in June. We are always looking for volunteers to help serve a Sunday picnic at Wakonda. And we do need counselors who are 18 years old and available for the entire camp (camp hours are approximately 7:30 - 4:30 and one Friday overnight).
All donations (including monetary donations) are appreciated. Checks made out to either St. Aidan's or the Diocese of Southern Virginia and memoed Camp Wakonda will help us continue this important ministry. There is no charge to campers and their families so our support is vital. For more information, or to volunteer, contact Joe Miller at 963-2180.
Judeo-Christian Outreach Center
For around 20 years, St. Aidan's served several meals each year at the JCOC. We are looking for a new liaison to continue this tradition.
Mission of the Holy Spirit
We provide an early dinner for about 30 children on the second Sunday of every month for the MOHS. The MOHS is located in St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church which is just off the exit for the Norfolk Airport. Joe and Mary Lou Miller have coordinated this meal for years. We are looking for others to help with the coordinating, cooking and serving. Typically, three to five people help with the cooking and serving. In the coming months, we hope to have our youth learn some basic cooking skills by putting together the meal here at St. Aidan's which will then be served at the MOHS by volunteers over 18 years old. For more information, contact the Millers at 963-2180.
St. Aidan's is on call from 12-1 p.m. three days each month to provide a week's worth of groceries to needy persons referread by the Virginia Beach Human Services. People are given a "shopping list" on which they circle items they want. Our volunteers bag up the food and help them get it to their car. Donations of time, cash and food are appreciated.
On December 31st, 2010, in honor of Nancy and Ed Smith's Golden anniversary, guests filled the Narthex with donations for the food pantry. Thank you Nancy and Ed!
Seton Youth Shelters
Our next-door neighbor, Seton House provides temporary shelter to teenager girls in crisis between ages 11 and 18. Just up North Lynnhaven behind St. Nicholas is the boy's shelter. Seton ministries serve the entire area. Their street outreach travels into neighborhoods and delivers toiletries and serves water and Kool-Aid to homeless children. They also have a mentoring program for children of prisoners and a school program to help kids struggling with SOLs and life skills.
Parishioners are invited to bring paper good and toiletries to church with them on the first Sunday of each month for the Seton House next door. Reams of paper, shampoo, toothbrushes, toilet paper, paper towels, feminine products etc. are all appreciated.
Father Mark is a member of the Seton Board and is committed to supporting this important ministry. To learn more about Seton Youth Shelters, please click here to visit their website.
Faith Works Coalition
Faith Works is comprised of members from several different chruches whose mission is to do maintenance and repairs on local homes whose owners cannot afford to do them. In November, St. Aidan's youth painted a trailer for a local resident. More projects are in the works and parishioners can take part by being a member of a work crew one morning or helping offset the costs of repairs. Senior Warden Fred Parkinson is a Board member.
Under the direction of MaryAnne Russell and Mary Whittaker, St. Aidan’s provides Christmas meals and gifts for families and institutionalized adults. Through sign-up boards, all parishioners can participate in giving to those in need during Advent and Christmas.
Reach Youth Mission Trip
Our first annual mission trip involved 14 teenagers and three adults who spent a week on a Reach Youth Mission Trip in Appalachia repairing many homes and touching countless lives. This year, 15 kids will experience God again in the mountains of West Virginia.
Shawl Ministry
The Shawl Ministry is done by the Needle Nuts Craft Group which meets on Mondays around 9:00 a.m. at the church. The group knits and gives away 20-30 shawls for cancer patients and others in need to provide warmth and comfort whether for happy or sad times. In December, the group raised $1,200 by raffling off a queen-sized quilt. The money was used to buy and donate three new computers to the Seton Houses in Little Neck.
Stop Hunger Now
Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger relief organization that delivers food and other life-saving aid around the world. Its mission is to provide food to the world's most destitute and hungry in the most sustainable, efficient and effective manner. We held our first packing event in 2010. The next is scheduled for April 10, 2011. Come, be a part of this fun and life-sustaining event.
