St. Paul's Episcopal Church

For many years, St. Paul’s has offered a Back to School program for needy children in our area. The purpose of this program is to provide clothing, shoes, a back pack and a personal care kit to enable these children to begin the school year on a positive note and an even footing with their classmates. We average 30-35 children in the program annually. Each child receives a gift bag containing clothing (usually 2-3 outfits, underwear, socks and a hoodie, sweater or light jacket), a pair of athletic shoes or other per their request, a back pack of their color choice and a personal care kit containing a bar of soap, full size bottle of shampoo, tube of toothpaste, toothbrush and deodorant where age appropriate. Names are obtained from two area food pantries, the Elk Rapids Community Cupboard and the Acme Christian Thrift Store (ACTS) in Williamsburg. We have chosen to work with these pantries because it gives us a measure of screening. In July, the parents receive a letter of invitation to the program and a wish list to return to us where they indicate items needed, sizes, color preferences, favorite brands, etc. The requests are often quite detailed. On occasion, we even receive pictures cut from store advertising. Our shoppers, armed with wish lists and cash, converge on area stores at their convenience to complete the task. We spend approximately $100 for children 5-10, $120 for 11-12 year olds and $140 for teens for clothing and shoes. Additional funds are used to purchase the back packs. Items for the personal care kits are usually donated to us by the ER Community Cupboard. Delivery to the ACTS client families takes place the Friday and/or Saturday before school starts and the ER Community Cupboard clients pick theirs up with their food order the regularly scheduled pantry day closest to the first day of school. Gift receipts are provided for the clothing and shoes to enable size exchanges but no refunds are permitted. Over the years, we have received many thank you notes from recipient families and positive comments from school personnel expressing their appreciation and letting us know that this program is making a difference in the lives of some of the young people in our community.

In 2006, it was brought to our attention by the elementary/middle school counselor that many area children were inadequately clothed for the harsh winter weather. Our Coats & Boots program was born. Using parameters similar to the Back to School program, we furnish a jacket, snow pants, boots, a hat and a pair of gloves to needy area children. These items are all purchased at the local KMart in Acme. We are fortunate to have Kmart as an enthusiastic partner in this endeavor. For this program, shoppers meet on two days during the first week of November. Kmart schedules extra support staff to help us find sizes and with check out. We shop for about 60 children so, in order to keep each child’s items separate, an index card is prepared in advance with name, age, gender, items needed and jacket color preference. As the shopper finishes gathering items for a child, she places the card and that child’s clothing in a large KMart bag. Upon returning home, the clothing in each bag is checked for correct sizing, etc, and then the bags are labeled and sorted by destination and family. Delivery is accomplished in the same manner as the Back to School program and gift receipts are given for like item exchange. Delivery is usually completed by November 10-just in time for the first blast. North Country Community Mental Health Christmas Party Another favorite project Outreach undertakes each year is the North Country Community Mental Health Christmas Party. Partnering with our Calvary Lutheran church family, we collect a “noisy offering” each week all year long and give it to CMH for their Christmas party. The money we donate is used to purchase gifts for their clients who are mainly adults living in group homes or other facilities. Approximately 150 CMH clients and their care-givers are invited to this party. The CMH staff members begin shopping for the gifts during the January sales and continue throughout the year to make sure each client has a gift chosen especially for them. In November, a group of St. Paul’s/Calvary members caravan to Bellaire and wrap the gifts. There is often a spirited competition to see who among us is the best wrapper. The day of the party, a large contingent of volunteers decorates the tables, prepares serving areas and whatever else is needed to ensure everything will be ready for the arrival of the guests. There is considerable community involvement in this party. A boy scout troop helps with drinks, assists guests and cleans up, all the food is donated by local merchants and a really good local group provides music. The music is a real hit and everyone gets into the spirit of the holiday-singing, dancing and visiting with one another. Lunch is served buffet style and many of us help serve sandwiches, pizza, pasta, salads and on and on. Dessert is ice cream scooped by the “ice cream lady” and may be eaten at any time-before, during or after lunch or all three. At the conclusion of lunch, Santa arrives in full regalia and each client has a turn to sit with him and receive his or her gift and then pose for a photo. For most of us this party is the beginning of the holiday season. It is a joyous day and a very meaningful experience for guests and volunteers alike.