Christ Church Outreach News: March 7, 2024
Please Zoom Into Our Monthly Outreach Meeting on Monday, March 11
Learn many ways to help others by joining us remotely for the Outreach Commission meeting on Monday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m., when we hope to have a guest presentation about FISH. Our mission has a local, national, and international scope. Email us for the Zoom details.
Help Prepare or Serve a Meal to the Homeless on Monday, March 11
On the second Monday of each month, it’s our turn to provide meals for the homeless at the Day Resource Center (DRC) in Jessup and the Live-In Facility on Freetown Road in Columbia, both operated by the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center. We most recently took part on Feb. 12 (above images).
To join us on Monday, March 11, please sign up by this Sunday, March 10. If you wish to volunteer or bring food for the midday meal, our DRC online signup form describes the procedure. Please drop off side dishes, desserts, and fruit by 12:45 p.m. in the Christ Church parking lot near Old Brick. In-person volunteers gather then to car-pool to Jessup at 1 p.m. Later, parishioners who cook or shop for the evening meal for 50 residents of Grassroots’ Live-In Facility arrive in the Old Brick parking lot between 3:15 and 3:30 p.m. Get details in our Grassroots online signup form.
Grassroots staff serves the evening meal. It’s efficient to provide for both venues on the same day. Your donations and Vestry-approved funds pay for the fried chicken entrees. Thank you!
The Grassroots team at Christ Church is led by Shahra Toth, who once again stepped up to aid the DRC when it was short-handed on a recent weekend. Shahra and George Toth, who are both Outreach members, prepared and delivered pans of 30 eggs each, scrambled with cheese or ham (above images). The chilly weather on Saturday, Feb.17, was similar to the snowy Saturday in January when they last brought eggs for DRC’s breakfast meal.
Grassroots has wider needs for its pantries, located at three sites. It welcomes in-kind donations to be dropped off for delivery on the second Mondays. Look for its monthly needs list on church bulletin boards or see “Related Files” on each signup form.
Columbia Community Care Plans Events on March 14 and March 16
Here are two save-the-dates for Columbia Community Care (CCC), which Christ Church has supported since June 2020, soon after its founding to help those in need during the travails of the pandemic. To mark its fourth anniversary, CCC will hold a recognition event on Thursday, March 14, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at The 3rd, 10215 Wincopin Circle, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 21044. Tickets cost $75 each plus online registration fees. On CCC’s events page, the event is described as offering “Food, Drink, Entertainment, Fellowship, and Fun.”
A mystery-themed fundraiser will be held Saturday, March 16, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 5485 Twin Knolls Rd., Columbia MD 21045. On CCC’s events page, the organization says, “$10 of each ticket will go to food and resources for students and families in Columbia.”
Admission is $95 for an individual or $85 for members of a group of four or a group of eight, plus online registration fees. Guests must be 21 or older. Admission includes a three-course dinner, tax, gratuity, free parking, and the program. “Sinister Speakeasy” is an interactive murder-mystery game conducted by Whodunnit for Hire.
Meanwhile, CCC has added paper towels and toilet paper to its list of needed essentials. Also please keep collecting diapers, baby wipes, sanitary and personal care items and adult diapers. Put these in the yellow bin, marked “CCC,” inside the Parish Hall. Drop off items on weekdays when the church office is open or on Sundays. The Christ Church point of contact is Leigh Smith, who monitors the bins and delivers their contents.
Those who need groceries and other necessities can find information on times and locations of three Saturday distribution sites by going online to the “I Need Help” portion of CCC’s website. Or learn how to volunteer at the sites or in other ways by visiting the “I Can Help” portion of its website. Look for updates on the CCC Facebook Group.
Look for the FISH Bin on the Breezeway near the Parish Hall
FISH of Howard County needs non-perishable foods and toiletries, which we collect in the basket at the altar or in a marked yellow bin on the breezeway between the Parish Hall and Old Brick. FISH provides committed support to select families in need. The neighbors you help give thanks for all you do in their support.
Refugee Ministry News
Please join members of our interfaith refugee ministry at a Refugee Shabbat at the Columbia Jewish Congregation on March 8th at 7:30 p.m. Naimatullah, the father in the “second family” of Afghan refugees we have connected with, will speak about the harrowing journey of his family’s personal refugee experience. The service is at The Meeting House (the Oakland Mills interfaith center) in Oakland Mills, 5885 Robert Oliver Place, Columbia. All are invited.
In other RM news, St. Andrews Episcopal in Glenelg is reaching out to sister parishes for assistance in finding two host families for two teenage Afghan refugees who are under their care. After spending nearly two years in a UAE refugee camp, Najiba and Faramarz received authorization to come to the U.S. in July 2023. Since then, they’ve lived with the former rector of St. Andrews and her family. They are currently in 9th grade at Glenelg High School but would relocate to a new school if needed. We seek families who can take them separately for at least one year, starting in June 2024. Please visit tinyurl.com/Najiba-Faramarz for more information on Najiba and Faramarz. If you might be interested in hosting and would like to learn more, please contact Deacon Denise at deacondenise@christchurchcolumbia.org
Help an Eagle Scout!
Jonah Aribiah, Christ Church parishioner, Youth Liason to the Vestry, and Eagle Scout with Troop 617, is looking for assistance to help complete his Eagle Scout Project. It involves the construction and installation of five raised garden beds that will benefit Homewood Center school, a Title 1 Howard County Public School, located in Columbia Maryland. Schools are designated as Title 1 schools if they have a large percentage of students from low income families and receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch meals. Being a Title 1 school, many of the students are from low-income families, and given the current high food prices, my project will be beneficial to the Homewood Center by providing the students a space where they can learn how to grow their own food and vegetables and transfer this knowledge to their home communities. This will go a long way in helping alleviate the food insecurity in the County. Growing ecology-friendly in-season food and providing a natural habitat for pollinators is also beneficial to the environment. If you are interested, please speak with Jonah on Sundays or email him at jaribiah@gmail.com.
In general, if you have suggestions about ways to help the community, if you want to get involved, or if you need assistance, please email Christ Church Outreach at outreach@christchurchcolumbia.org. Your help is greatly welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.
