• A few openings remain: call Georgia Pease at (212) 477-1693 by Sunday, June 6, if interested.

• Group will live at The Abiquiu Inn (double occupancy) because Ghost Ranch is full.

• Most of the work will consist of maintenance projects at Ghost Ranch to help offset recent staff reductions.

• One or two days’ work may consist of helping Pueblo San Ildefonso prepare for their annual Gathering for Mother Earth.

• Group will attend the Gathering for Mother Earth on Saturday, September 25.

• Sunday, September 26 will be spent in Santa Fe (“free time”).

• Per-person cost is $1,625 – including air fare, ground transportation, donation for work supplies, and all room & board except one lunch and two dinners.

3 Ways to Help Haiti Now

1) Give- In disaster situations the most pressing need is money. A designated account has been established to help with the immediate relief efforts: DR000064.  Your financial gift can be given online, by check, or by calling (800) 872-3283. To pay online: http://www.pcusa.org/give/online/projectSelectAction.do?numberString=DR000064

Checks may be sent to:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA  15264-3700

Please include the special designated giving account DR000064 – Haiti

2) Act- Baby Care and Hygiene Kits are urgently needed for survivors in Haiti. Church World Service Kits are small packages of supplies assembled by volunteers and shipped to people in need around the world.

Kits may be sent to Church World Service all year. Your continuing support of this program is very important and helps to ensure Kits are available for immediate response after a disaster in another part of the world or here in the U.S.

For detailed instructions on how to assemble and ship kits: http://www.churchworldservice.org/

3) Pray- Please continue in prayer for all who have who lost friends and families, those who lost homes, and those seeking a sense of security after being affected by this tragic earthquake.

God of compassion
please watch over the people of Haiti,
and weave out of these terrible happenings
wonders of goodness and grace.
Surround those who have been affected by tragedy
with a sense of your present love,
and hold them in faith.
Though they are lost in grief,
may they find you and be comforted.
Guide us as a church
to find ways of providing assistance
that heal wounds and provide hope.
Help us to remember that when one of your children suffers
we all suffer;
through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives
and rules this world with you. Amen.

— Bruce Reyes-Chow, Gradye Parsons and Linda Valentine
For up-to-date information and more ways to help, visit: http://www.pcusa.org/pda/response/latinamerica/haiti-earthquake011310.htm

Saturday, July 10 – Sunday, July 18

• Facilitator: Fr. Bernier, Anglican parish, Cap Haitien
• Project: improving the schools’ physical plant, possibly working on outfitting a vacant building for use as a dining room & kitchen for school meal program
• Accommodations: the rectory
• FPC coordinators: Dick & Georgia Pease (212-477-1693; georgiarpease@gmail.com)
• Estimated p/p cost = $1,100
• Mark your calendar to hear Fr. Bernier speak at F.P.C. about Haiti on Thursday, November 12th, at 7:00 p.m.

GHOST RANCH:

Saturday, Sept. 18 – Monday, Sept. 27

• Facilitators: Habitat for Humanity and TEWA Women United, Espanola
• Trip will include 7 nights at Ghost Ranch-Abiquiu and 2 nights at Ghost Ranch- Santa Fe; the first day (Abiquiu) will be free time as will the last day (Santa Fe).
• Projects: 3 days of working with Habitat; 3 days of working at Pueblo San Ildefonso and attending their “Gathering for Mother Earth”
• Accommodations: Ghost Ranch, double-occupancy, private bath
• FPC coordinators: Dick & Georgia Pease (212-477-1693; georgiarpease@gmail.com)
• Estimated p/p cost = $1,625

MEXICO:

Thursday, Nov. 4 – Saturday, Nov. 13

• Facilitator: Mark Adams, Frontera de Cristo – A Presbyterian Bi-national Border Ministry
• Trip will include time in Agua Prieta (near the U.S. border) and Tapachula (near the Guatemala border)
• Project: Cafe Justo (Just Coffee) immersion program
• Accommodations: home stays & motels
• FPC coordinator: Grania Marcus (917-579-0199; grania_marcus@yahoo.com)
• Estimated p/p cost = $1,800+

This is the number of volunteer slots the Homeless Shelter must fill during its six month season.  One volunteer coordinator each night, two overnight volunteers each night, and one food coordinator each week.

456 is 38% of our congregation.

In order to fully staff our shelter, we need your help. If you’ve never volunteered before, make a commitment to volunteer one shift– either as a coordinator or overnighter. If you typically volunteer 1-2 times per season, challenge yourself to increase that to 3-4 times per season, or even once a month.

Overwhelmingly, volunteers find their time at the shelter fulfilling and even transformative. This is truly FAITH IN ACTION! And if you can’t volunteer at the shelter but still want to be involved, help us recruit new volunteers.

Finally, keep the Homeless Shelter and its guests and volunteers in your prayers throughout this winter season.

For more information, email homeless_shelter@yahoo.com, call (212) 741-8620, or visit www.fpcnyc.org/homeless-shelter.html

On Thursday, October 15^th, 2009, I wrote the following email to a small group of church members:

Greetings,
I am reaching out to you in the hopes that you might be able to help with a small project. I meet weekly with a church member who is homeless and spends his evenings in a chair, in the basement of a Catholic Church in Harlem. He is not in the country legally, and therefore is fearful of seeking work in the current immigration climate. So, to the best of my ability, I try to provide for him. He has a storage facility and a Metrocard and a good sense of where to find a hot meal.

He does not have warm clothes for this winter season. If you have any of the items listed below, or if you can purchase some of them, I would be greatly appreciative. Some of you did this last year, and he was able to stay healthy throughout the cold season. The boots that one of you purchased for him are still in good condition and don’t need replacing.
In deep thanks,
Rev. Sarah McCaslin

Items needed:
Winter Coat
Hooded Sweatshirt
Jeans
socks
underwear
Long underwear
Scarf, hat and gloves

By Sunday, October 18^th, my office was crammed with shopping bags filled with brand new and slightly used clothing- everything on my list and in multiples. The response was so great that I had to ask Tony Feliciano, our sexton, to wheel in a coat rack to hang everything up. When the member arrived at the church on Tuesday morning for our regular coffee klatch, he was overwhelmed, overjoyed, humbled. “This is going to be a warm winter,” he said. “This isn’t a very good surprise; this is a very, very, very, very good surprise,” he said. “The people in this church are wonderful,” he said. “They are so generous.” After planting a kiss on my cheek, he almost skipped out of my office.

Like him, I am feeling overwhelmed, overjoyed and humbled by this experience. How quickly and how generously the church responded to an individual in need! My only regret is that I did not invite the entire congregation to take part in this improvisational clothing drive.

For those who gave so generously, Thank you!!!!!! For those who did not have a chance to donate items from the above list, there is still time. I will continue collecting warm, winter items for a few more weeks, distributing them as needed. Once the shelter season begins, all remaining clothing will be provided to our nightly guests.

As he was packing up his winter wardrobe into a couple of bags, the church member said that I was responsible for everything that had happened. But I respectfully disagreed, “No, I’m not at the center of this effort- you are, and the church is.” I’m the middle man, the go-between, the liaison- linking the one with need to the ones seeking to share. It is the best job I could hope for. Thank you.