Outreach

Outreach is an important part of who we are as a parish. The Outreach Committee at St. Paul?s Church began in 1989 to help those in need in the community and is responsible 11 for selecting and organizing outreach events. Its mission is to follow Christ's guidance: "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did unto me".

 

Several times per year, members from the parish will purchase, cook, and serve food for dinners for homeless men and women at the Salvation Army in Framingham and at the Waltham Community Day Center.

 

At the beginning of each school year, St. Paul donates book bags containing an assortment of school supplies to students at the Epiphany School in Dorchester. The school offers tuition-free education to students from grades five through eight who come from economically disadvantaged families in the Boston area. Students are also provided with a federal free or reduced fee lunch each day. Students attend school 12 hours/day, 11 months/year and receive three meals a day plus after school help with homework.

 

Thanksgiving dinners are provided for underprivileged families at the Warwick House food pantry in Roxbury Crossing each year. Members of St. Paul's parish purchase paper "turkey feathers" which contribute to the cost of a dinner for each family.

 

An employee at the Department of Social Services has made an arrangement with St. Paul's Church to provide the names of approximately 25 children whose families are unable to purchase Christmas gifts for them. Members from the parish sponsor a child and buy them a gift, based on a wish list that each child provides. It has been very successful, and has made Christmas special for each child who participates.

 

The members of the Parish of St. Paul collect return-for-deposit bottles and cans (redeemable at 5 cents each) to support the program of "Plenty" - a nonprofit organization working to relieve poverty through supporting the efforts of indigenous communities in the Central American country of Belize. The nickels slowly began to add up into larger and larger sums of money, particularly once St. Paul's project was linked with the recycling efforts of families from Newton's Bowen Elementary School and the Stafford Street Church in Jamaica Plain. Eventually a steady commitment of $100 per month (2000 recycled containers!) was established to maintain a school garden and hot lunch program for children in the rural Southern Belize community of Barranco. Click here for more information about St. Paul's participation in the Plenty Project.

 

Building on this established commitment to the people of Belize, in 2004, St. Paul's received a grant from the Diocese of Massachusetts Volunteers for Mission, which allowed the purchase of tools and materials to help build a church in Belize. A mission team was formed from St. Paul's Church and they helped build St. Phillip's Anglican Church there. In addition, members of St. Paul's donated books and other supplies for the children of St. Phillip's parish school.

 

In 2005, we formed a collaborative with three other Episcopal parishes - Trinity Church Newton, St. John's Church Newton, and Emmanuel Church Boston. A mission team of 12 adults and 8 high school children was formed. This team visited San Ignacio, Belize, to work on their school. They helped construct a computer room and adjacent restrooms, provided their expertise to network and repair computers, and taught in the classrooms. 12 The team also provided twenty suitcases of books and computer supplies to the students there. This trip was partially funded by the Kemeza Belize Scholarship Fund (a fund created by the parishioners in recognition of our former Rector Maureen Kemeza's efforts in establishing this mission at St. Paul's.) The 2007 trip will be partially funded by the ongoing Kemeza Belize Scholarship Fund as well as $3000 Sending-Serving Grant awarded to us by the diocese.

 

The parishioners at St. Paul's donate money on the first Sunday of each month to support outreach activities. In addition, the church has provided the committee with a budget. The Outreach Committee frequently receives requests for donations from different organizations. Since it is impossible to support every cause or need, the committee researches each organization and its projects before making a decision to give. Preference is given to agencies or groups with which members of the congregation are involved. Among those requests, monetary donations were given in 2005 to the Somerville Mental Health Day Camp, which gives children from disadvantaged families a chance to attend camp and to learn new skills. A second request that was filled was for the Germaine Lawrence Chaplaincy. This program provides weekly Christian chapel services and pastoral care to the students and staff of the Germaine Lawrence School in Arlington. The Germaine Lawrence School is a residential school, which provides girls who have a history of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and substance abuse with a treatment program. The girls have severe emotional and behavioral problems and the chaplaincy program allows them to add a spiritual component to their treatment plan. We have also supported the Newton Cousens Fund to help Newton residents with their heat and rent bills.

 

The people of St. Paul's Parish have also responded to providing relief in times of natural disasters globally. In 2004, funds were sent to an Episcopal church in Florida to help hurricane victims there. In 2005, monies were raised to help those in need as a result of the tsunami in Asia, and the devastating Hurricane Katrina.

 

The Parish of St. Paul's continues to follow with the tradition of the parish, providing whatever contributions we can to our community.