|
 |
|
| August 31, 2010 |
Make A Difference E-News |
Opportunities to Serve:
Santa Maria Hostel (for women with chemical dependencies) is seeking volunteers for the Houston Run for Recovery on Sunday, September 12. Help is needed beginning Tuesday, September 9th – 12th. Please contact Pamela at 832-630-2859 or pvangiessen@santamariahostel.org.
Christian Community Service Center’s Jingle Bell Express Client Registration. Monday, October 4 - Wednesday, October 6, help parents sign up their children to receive presents during the Christmas season. 8:30am-12:30pm in St. Luke's Blanton Bldg. Please contact Jeni at 713-961-3993 x215 or seasonal@ccschouston.com.
Houston GreenFest, a day-long celebration of the diversification that makes Houston unique, is Saturday, October 16th from 10 am – 4 pm. If you can help with a 3-5 hour shift, please contact Julie with the Galveston Bay Foundation at jmintzer@galvbay.org, or 281-332-3381 x 207.
YoungLives ministry to teen and parenting moms is looking for mentors and volunteers. The next volunteer orientation is scheduled for Tuesday, September 14th at 7:00 pm at St. Luke’s Counseling Center. Please contact Courtney at younglives@gmail.com or 832-630-0296.
SEARCH Homeless Services welcomes dedicated volunteers to assist staff in making a positive difference in the lives of homeless men, women and children. Volunteer opportunities include preparing lunch, tutoring adults, working with children at SEARCH’s House of Tiny Treasures and playing bingo with day shelter clients. By spending two or three hours at SEARCH, you make a big difference in the lives of people living in shelters or on the streets. Please call 713-276-3031 or email volunteer@searchhomeless.org.
Mentors of Hope: Over a 30-minute, weekly lunch at Hope Café on the Lee High School campus, encourage students with life goals by mentoring social skills or serving as a program volunteer. Please contact Sheila at 713-787-1767.
Small Steps Nurturing Center Thursday Night Support Group: Needs teams of 4 -6 volunteers to sponsor a Thursday night once a month or once every two months. Provide a light dinner for 15 -20 people, activities for 8 -10 children (Bible stories, craft activity, reading stories, help with homework) while parents are meeting to do Bible study and support each other in friendship. 5:30 – 7:30 pm, Jensen campus. Please contact Verna at vnoack@ssnc.org.
Urban Harvest (Community Gardening and Farmer’s Markets) welcomes help with Farmers Markets each Saturday. Please contact: cleblanc@libertyoffice.com. Volunteers are also needed at community gardens in the first and fifth wards. Please contact Janis at janisbarnard@sbcglobal.net or James at 832-607-4044.
Community Break Dancing Ministry needs volunteers on Mondays from 5:30-7:30 pm at St. Luke’s Gethsemane campus. Please contact Lynda at 713-402-5155 or lisensee@stlukes-hou.org.
Soaring Eagles “Horses as Healers” Ministry to heal children in crisis needs volunteers to help with sessions from 5-7 pm. Assistance is also requested for grooming and feeding the horses. Please contact Beth at 832-771-6447.
|
Through our partnership with Kids' Meals, St. Luke's members can help make sandwiches to go in sack lunches for preschool children in need living in Houston's Second Ward. Groups meet in the kitchen every Monday to make 500 meat-and-bread sandwiches that go in to the lunch sacks that Kids' Meals delivers to these children. It only takes a little over an hour to assemble, bag the sandwiches and clean up.
Funding for this very special program is in need! Please consider donating a portion of what you spend on your own lunch weekly to St. Luke's Kids' Meals.
Industrious men and women from St. Luke’s and the community meet in the Woodshop (on Edloe behind Cokesbury Bookstore) on Mondays and Tuesdays to work on various projects. Their main task is to make classic-style wooden toys for area churches and agencies to be given away at Christmas. In 2005, they made over 9,700 toys that were given away at agencies, churches and schools all over the county, part of Texas and into Mexico!
Recently the group received emails and photos from servicemen in Ghana where the toys were distributed to youngsters following medical treatment.
Please contact at aking@stlukes-hou.org for more information on how to become a part of this creative group.
Mission Trips
Bishop Janice Riggle Huie and a 35-member delegation from the United Methodist Church have just returned from Africa where they delivered mosquito nets to children. Susan Silvus, Outreach Director at St. Luke's, was a part of the team. St. Luke's 2007 Christmas Offering raised over $150,000 for the Nothing But Nets anti-malaria campaign. See Photos
Each year, St. Luke's Outreach Ministry sends our missioners out into the world to spread the good news of our faith and help those in need, but 2009 marks a change in our missions program. Due to the economy, the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, and international safety concerns, Outreach Ministries has decided to focus our hands-on missions activities on those in need in our Houston community.
However, to continue our 10-year effort of support for missions in Kenya and to also combat the global water crisis, the St. Luke's Easter Offering will benefit Living Water International (www.water.cc). Our goal is to raise enough donations for LWI to drill and install two clean water wells in Kenya. To make a donation, go to www.H2ochallenge.org.
Blood & Food Drives
The Gift of Life can only be given by a donor. There is no replacement for blood except by what is freely given by others. If there is not enough blood on the shelves surgeries have to be postponed and those who need regular transfusions may not receive what they need. Please give so others may live.
At the same time, you can bring non-perishable food items to fill the shelves of a local food pantry.
Commit2Care Blood & Food Drives for 2009
June 7 August 2 October 4 December 13
To sign up and reserve your time go to www.giveblood.org The code for St. Luke's is 4301.
Newgate Connection is St. Luke's Restorative Justice arm. Volunteers pray with, write to and mentor prisoners at the tri-prison Visitor's Center in Dayton. 5,251 visitors went through the Visitor's Center doors in 2006 as they waited to see a friend or family member. The Visitor's Center provided appropriate clothing for the visitors, toys and books for children and an air-conditioned, relaxing environment in which to wait for their loved one.
Project Hope of Houston serves to provide a support system designed to assist "at-risk" high school students by providing trained mentors to encourage and discuss their concerns, achieve their goals, achieve graduation and pursue higher education. St. Luke's is in partnership with Project Hope by providing mentors to Lee High School (HISD) students. Contact Alice King with inquiries as to how you can be involved in Project Hope at aking@stlukes-hou.org.
Spanish Alpha
Spanish Alpha is an on-going course in Christianity that is offered in Spanish for day-laborers in the Gulfton area. It meets in a local Pizza Hut on Tuesday mornings where there is a video and follow-up discussion on issues such as:
Who is Jesus? Why did he die? Does God answer prayer?
If you speak Spanish and are available on Tuesday mornings, please contact Alan Nash at alanwnash@sbcglobal.net.
Pet Ministry
The Pet Ministry is a group of caring individuals who bring joy to many lives by their visits with their furry or feathered friends. The Pet Ministry schedule is as follows:
- 1st Saturday of the month - Clarewood House (senior citizen home) from 12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. at 7400 Clarewood Drive
- 3rd Thursday of the month - The Seniors' Place (memory care facility) from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. at 2714 Joanel St.
- 3rd Saturday of the month - The Center (serving mentally impaired adults) from 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. at 3550 W. Dallas St.
Please be advised that ALL animals making Pet Ministry visits must first have a certified behavior evaluation. Please contact Alice King in Outreach for an appointment at aking@stlukes-hou.org or 713-402-5067.
|
