OUTREACH
The Outreach Committee coordinates and promotes parish activities that offer care to those in need outside of the St. John’s community. The committee’s responsibilities include the distribution and stewardship of financial contributions in line with the vestry-allocated annual budget and designation of recipient organizations for the Christmas and Easter plate offerings. The Outreach Committee also supports existing outreach ministries & assists in the creation of new outreach ministries.
CURRENT OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES
HELP WANTED: BSAFE IS JULY 15-19TH!
Once again, St. John's will help with the St. Stephen's B-Safe summer program, a camp for city children in the South End. No experience necessary to help! We need at home cooks and helpers to provide two lunches to the campers (Monday and Tuesday) and also cooks and helpers for Friday, the 19th, when we host the elementary age group at St. John's, where they will enjoy the Games 2 U truck once again as well as a trip to Weir River Farm. Please click here to sign up to help.
ONGOING FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION
Please remember to bring donations for our Food Pantry baskets, located across from the church office. This ongoing collection helps stock the shelves at several local food pantries. Please place your non-perishables (no glass), cleaning supplies, toiletries and diapers in the baskets outside the church office. Please note...the food pantry is strictly for food donations, not clothing. If you have clothing items, they can be donated directly to Wellspring in Hull, Goodwill or the Salvation Army, who is currently in need of clothing. Also note that the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Brockton is regularly in Hingham on Wednesdays to pick up donated items. If you have used furniture and/or clothing in good condition (they are not a repair facility), it's easy to call and schedule a pickup: 508-586-1187. And remember, donations are tax deductible.
OUTREACH NEWS
MOTHER'S DAY PEACE WALK 
St. John's own Deacon Geof and his wife, Gerri, Mother Anne, and the Morgan Family, the Hemphill/Wilkinson Family, the Hussey Family and the Sutton Family participated in a 5K Mother's Day Walk for Peace in Dorchester on Sunday, May 12th. The march raised over $130,000 for peace initiatives.
APRIL 2013: DVD/BOOK DRIVE
St. John's parishioners donated over 700 books and 110 children's DVDs to the collection for Boston Medical Center in April.
Joanna MacDonald, Director of Cause and Event Marketing at BMC expressed their gratitude:
"I dropped the lion's share off this morning and can I tell you that the child life specialists were absolutely giddy. Apparently one of our biggest suppliers of books hasn't been able to make a donation in a while. They all planned to fill the shelves with books immediately. They, like I, were so impressed with the great condition and some were even new from the scholastic fair! Everyone was truly, truly thrilled. I knew we were in need of books but I had no idea how badly in need. The pediatric emergency department was exceptionally excited. Thank you all!"
LENT 2013: ST JOHN'S LENTEN CLEAN WATER INITIATIVE
This Lent, St. John's asked that, rather than give something up, you put aside an amount equal to the amount you spend on bottled water (or your monthly water bill, if you don’t buy bottled water) in your household and bring it to church on Palm Sunday. The collected funds of over $1,600 were donated to the clean water initiatives of Episcopal Relief and Development. Click here to read how they were used!
Click here to read the weekly H2infO bulletin inserts that were distributed containing facts about the lack of clean water in our world.
EPIPHANY DINNERS (DORCHESTER)
Throughout the 2012-13 school year, groups from St. John's prepared and served dinners on Monday nights at Epiphany School in Dorchester. While we have no more dates left for this school year, please >email Katie Sutton if you are interested in joining us for a dinner sometime next Fall! No experience required!
>CLICK HERE to watch "Epiphany is Grateful for . . ." and get a better idea of what Epiphany is all about.
JANUARY 2013: ST. STEPHEN'S WORK DAY AT BLACKSTONE ELEMENTARY
On Martin Luther King Day, several St. John's families traveled into the South End to paint, clean and otherwise spruce up Blackstone Elementary School. Thanks to the Dawson-Townsend Family, the Hussey Family, the Kealy Family, the Sanchez Family, the Sutton Family and Archdeacon Geof Smith for all of their hard work!
> Click here to see more photos.
> Read an article in the South End News about the event.
JANUARY 2013: LIZ STEINHAUSER OF ST. STEPHEN'S VISITS ST. JOHN'S
Liz Steinhauser, Director of Youth Programs (including B-SAFE) at St. Stephen's, preached at St. John's and met with parishioners on January 13th.
>Click here to read her sermon
SUMMER 2012: ST. STEPHEN'S B-SAFE
>Click here to see some great pics of the kids when they came to St. John's last July.
Click on any of the links below to learn more about the organizations we support and how to get more involved!
Christmas Tree Gift Program (Angel Tree)
Episcopal Relief and Development
The Esther R. Sanger Center for Compassion
St. Stephen's Mission, South End, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
For more information, contact Katie Sutton.