Outreach Opportunities Abound

Overview

St. Mark's Outreach Committee would like to invite everyone to take a few minutes and see if there is some way you might connect your individual/group/committee time and talents toward a local or national/international outreach activity. If you are interested in finding out more about any of the following Outreach Opportunities please call the church office for the coordinators' contact information.
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Attend an Outreach Committee Meeting

We meet the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Guild Room. We are always looking for new folks to help our small but faithful group further our baptismal covenant to seek to serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself.
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Cheyenne Interfaith Hospitality Network

This hands-on ministry serves homeless families in need of a safe place to sleep. Needy families are temporarily housed, on a rotating basis, in churches around Cheyenne. St. Mark's hosts families about once every six weeks or so. During the week it is our turn, volunteers are needed to prepare and clean up after meals and to spend the night at the church with the families.
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Needs, Inc.

Are you interested in promoting our ongoing food collection ministry to the parish and /or delivering the collected non-perishable food items to Needs Inc. here in Cheyenne? We are looking for a few volunteers to take on this important ministry! This requires that you be dependable, but it does not require a lot of time.
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Linus Blanketeers

St. Mark's ECW (Episcopal Church Women) supports the local Cheyenne chapter of Project Linus by donating handmade quilts and blankets. Project Linus is a national organization that gives handmade quilts and blankets to children (birth-18 years old) experiencing traumatic situations. The blankets are not only for warmth and comfort but also a token of love. The St. Mark's "Blanketeers" meet regularly for workshops to make blankets. In the year 2006 the St. Mark's "Blanketeers" have made and donated 59 blankets to Project Linus.
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Funded Outreach Activites

Various local outreach activities are funded by the parish and coordinated by the outreach committee. The following are just a few examples: providing gasoline vouchers for those in need; a sack lunch pantry; purchasing of medications for needy folks through City/County Health; and the Easter and Christmas Giving Trees, which provides gifts and food for needy families at the holidays. In addition to these activities funded through the Outreach Committee, Episcopal Church Women also coordinated the annual United Thank Offering in-gathering each fall and also provides funds to Cathedra Home for Children in Laramie and sponsor's a child through World Children's Fund and also participates in the Linus Blanket Project.
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Jonathan Daniels Society

Who was Jonathan Daniels?

Jonathan Daniels was an Episcopal seminary student who was killed at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Jon's death came as he saved the life of a young Alabama woman outside a store in the town of Hayneville, Alabama.

Born and raised in New Hampshire, Jon graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and was in his second year at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts when he died. Jon was dedicated to helping those left behind on the margins of society. In Alabama he worked with the rural poor, helped people register to vote and attempted to integrate the local Episcopal church. Jon saw people for who they were and not by the labels society affixes to them. He was a firm believer that all are God's children and deserve the respect and dignity afforded them as human beings. In 1994, Jonathan Daniels was given a day in the church calendar of lesser saints and martyrs. His feast day is August 14.

What is the Daniels Society?

The Society was formed last fall by a group of people who shared a concern about issues that seem to be marginalized by our world. Poverty, Housing, Racism, and Education are just some of the items that we focused on. We also want to be a clearinghouse for new ideas and honest discussion on whatever may be on peoples hearts. These issues are the same that interested Jon. We seek to follow in his footsteps and do what we can to make our world a little better place.

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Book Collections

In the Parish Hall you will find two boxes to drop off books. The green box is for new or gently used children's books that are donated to City/County Health for distribution to needy children. A new initiative this winter is an ongoing collection of books and magazines that are sent to members of our armed forces around the world!
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Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation

Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation (www.episcopalglobalreconciliation.org) was formed in September 2001, following 9/11. In 2003, this group decided to focus its efforts toward promoting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This effort has met with great excitement and energy from Episcopalians across the country that sense the need for a movement for global reconciliation and economic justice. This initiative proposes that by giving 0.7% of our personal, parish, diocesan, Church and national budgets, we can take a significant step toward accomplishing the MDGs. On the web
site there is an e-mail group and newsletter individuals can sign up for.
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Episcopal Relief and Development

Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) (www.er-d.org) serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world by faithfully administering the funds that are received from the Church and raised from other sources. It provides relief in times of disaster and promotes sustainable development by identifying and addressing the root cause of suffering. Established in 1940 by the Episcopal Church in the United States as the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, mission was to assist refugees fleeing Europe during World War II. Over the years, the focus expanded and in 2000, the name was changed to Episcopal Relief and Development to emphasize ongoing emergency relief work and a growing focus on long-term development and rehabilitation programs. Donation can be made through ERD for domestic as well as international relief efforts. The Gifts of Life catalogue is an excellent resource through which individuals can make donations on behalf of others.
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The ONE Campaign

The ONE Campaign (www.one.org) is endorsed by Bishop Griswold and ERD as an avenue through which Episcopalians can encourage friends, family and co-workers to join a nation wide, non-partisan, broad based initiative to learn about the power of one to make a difference in the world what one person, one dollar, one percent can do toward eliminating extreme poverty. ONE was founded by 11 of the most well known non-profit advocacy organizations (e.g. CARE, Save the Children, Oxfam, etc.) in an effort to pool voices and resources. On the ONE web site individuals can sign up for an e-group, sign petitions and purchase white ONE bracelets.
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Rag Dolls To Love

Mary Paige Jones (former Bishop Jones's wife) coordinates the delivery of these dolls to children worldwide that are disadvantaged, living in poverty, in war zones, etc. (a shipment of dolls just went to Iraq). You or your group / committee can print off a pattern and make dolls or raise / donate money to pay for the shipping / shipping costs (which can cost hundreds of dollars per shipment - so help is always needed). Check out the web site: www.ragdolls2love.org . This is a non-profit organization so any and all donations are tax deductible!
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