Outreach

The Outreach Committee provides St. John's with an organized and effective outreach channel for helping disadvantaged people to help themselves.

What do we do?
As a vital part of St. John’s mission of outreach, the Outreach Committee . . .

Supports local, national, and international organizations that help people to help themselves.

Volunteers skills and donations for local efforts to prevent homelessness, provide affordable housing, shelter the needy, and feed the hungry. We work with Habitat for Humanity, Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative (HIHI), Community Food Council, and other effective local organizations.

Advises the vestry on additional charitable giving that is part of St. John’s annual budget.

Raises funds to make good things happen. Recent giving has included:

• Family Service League and Youth and Family Counseling Service: for early childhood programs in Huntington Station and Oyster Bay. Trained workers visit at-risk families weekly, helping parents develop strong supportive relations with their children.
• Trinity Episcopal Church Counseling and Training Center, New Orleans: for counseling and care for children and families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
• Episcopal Relief & Development, Africa: working through local Anglican parishes to help the rural poor of Malawi grow the food they need, in a practical, sustainable way.
• St. Matthias School, Haiti: partnering with Ecole St. Matthias in Deslandes, Haiti to ensure that the next several generations of young people grow-up educated and well-fed.

How can you help?
The outreach opportunities at St. John’s are diverse and rewarding. You can offer help with a specific event or program...

• Work with the Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative (HIHI), which shelters the homeless: prepare or serve meals, or chaperone in the evening.
• Pick up a special St. John's Blue Bag and bring non-perishable food and personal care items to the St. John’s food basket on Sunday, which is then given to the Community Food Council. Click here for a helpful Blue Bag Ministry Shopping List.
• Support our donated baked goods program by picking up baked goods at the Fiorello Bakery in Huntington contributing a good will offering for them on Sundays, or taking the remainder to the Community Food Council or to the Congregational Church.
• Work with our annual fund-raising events: Stone Soup Luncheon, Bridge Luncheon.
• Help at St. John’s with occasional food and clothing donation drives.
• Mentor in local after-school programs at the Tri Community Youth Agency or at the Family Service League.
• Take supplies to the Family Service League’s after-school program for children at the Manor Field Service Center.

To participate in any part of the committee’s work or to find out about the about the latest volunteer opportunities, contact Laura Swiggett.