St. George's parishioners are engaged with the world and find many ways in their daily lives to reach out to those in need. The Outreach Committee is made up of parishioners who look for ways for the parish as a whole to work on issues and projects that reflect our parish's commitment to help others in our communities and the world beyond. To accomplish those goals, the Outreach Committee:
Identifies volunteer opportunities and provides financial grants to local organizations especially
in the areas of families affected by poverty and people confronting crisis and need.
Learns about, discusses and participates in events related to current local and global issues of
suffering, poverty and social justice.
Provides relevant information on these issues to the congregation.
Each year, a portion of St. George's budget is allocated to Outreach grants to social service and other
organizations in the local community, the Episcopal Church and beyond. We identify opportunities for
parish-wide participation in organizations and projects that reflect our goals of helping families affected
by poverty and people confronting crisis and need. We work with organizations in our local communities that
need volunteers as well as financial assistance. Our grants generally range in size from $500 to $2500. We
also prefer to support direct service projects to increase the potential impact of our grants.
Please download the PDF Grant Request form, complete it and return the completed form via mail or fax
to: St. George's Church, ATTN: Outreach Grant Request. Address: 550 Ridgewood Road, Maplewood, NJ 07040;
fax number: 973-762-9213.
Note: Grant decisions will be made in March, June, September and December. Please submit an application
by the last date of the preceding month to ensure that your application will be promptly considered.
Grants Awarded in 2010
The Outreach Committee awarded $13,550 in grants to projects and organizations based on our goals to (i)
help families affected by poverty; (ii) aid people confronting crisis and need (iii) and offer
opportunities for broader involvement by our parishioners. Our grants were:
$150 to Interfaith Holocaust Memorial Service
$1500 to Broadway House A residential care facility for adults infected with HIV
$750 to Church World Service CROP Hunger Walks Matching fund for parishioner gifts
$500 to Episcopal Church Women (ECW) Support for the Mary Rankin Scholarship
$250 to Episcopal Church Women (ECW) Support for operating funds
$1000 to Diocesan Alleluia Fund
$500 to Our Lady of Sorrows Food Pantry
$2500 to North Porch Women & Infants' Centers
$750 to the Parenting Center of the Maplewood and South Orange School District
$1000 to the Offender Aid and Restoration of Essex County Services to help offenders reintegrate into society
$500 to St. Joseph's RC Church Food Pantry
$1250 to CityServe at St. Paul's Paterson Summer Program for disadvantaged children
$1500 to Turning Point Community Services Emergency housing and support services
$1000 to Interfaith Hospitality Network
$400 to Spectrum – Forum on Tolerance Columbia High School Gay Straight Alliance
Questions? Contact:
Food Barrel Ministry
Every week throughout the year, the Outreach Committee welcomes contributions of non-perishable, non-breakable food items, which we give to local food pantries at St. Joseph's (Maplewood) and Turning Point Community Services (Irvington). Please place the food items in the barrels in the hallway outside the parish hall.
We also accept NEW infant items, formula and foods on behalf of North Porch Women and Infants' Center.
St. George's is a long-time supporter of the Interfaith Hospitality Network program (IHN), which brings shelter, meals, and support services to families without homes. Several times a year St. George's hosts IHN families for a week, or assists Wyoming Presbyterian Church in Millburn in hosting families by providing volunteers to prepare meals or act as evening or overnight hosts.
Several of the organizations supported by St. George's Outreach Grants also regularly seek volunteers to help them further their missions. If you would are looking for new ways to put your faith in action, or if you would like to learn more about the organizations we support, please consider some of these volunteer opportunities:
Christ Episcopal Church in Belleville
There are many ways to help including providing donations to the closet, helping with the shopping and
packaging, etc. Christ Church also runs a soup kitchen. Members of our youth group have volunteered for
Mary and Martha's Kitchen, and you can too.
Community Food Bank of New Jersey
The Food Bank has a large volunteering program on site for sorting donated food. You may also help solve
the problem of hunger by leaving canned and dry goods in the food collection
barrels next to the Parish Hall entrance.
St. Philip's Academy
St. George's has supported St. Philip's for several years. Additionally, the Dragons Middle School
Youth Group selected the school for their service projects and raised money for students affected by
Hurricane Katrina by "flocking" parishioners with hot pink flamingos! If you are interested in volunteering
at St. Philip's Academy, a private Episcopal elementary day school in Newark, please contact the
Development Department at 973/624-3684 or via
.
St. Philip's offers tutoring to its students after school for about an hour a day. Tutors work with students in both groups and individually as needed. Volunteer tutors should be able to commit to tutoring for at least one hour a week on a regular basis. Local adults may volunteer to read to a class during school hours.
