Mission and Outreach Minutes
August 3, 2015
In attendance: Evelyn Bence, Monica Dinan, Terry Dinan,Janet Hansen, Lisa Harkins, Caroline Haynes, Linda Kelleher, Charley Roberts, Laura West
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Evelyn Benceopened with a prayer.
Minutes for the March 15, 2015 meeting were approved.
AFAC
Caroline Haynes thanked the members for the email response to the request to send a check to AFAC for $500 prior to the end of July so that the funds would be eligible for a matching grant.
ASPAN
Linda Kelleher reported on the mini-walkathon for ASPAN. It was estimated that there were between 25 and 30 participants. Linda subsequently reported that $785 was raised for ASPAN, $220 of which was contributed through the Mission and Outreach fund by covering the cost of the children who participated in the walk. (ASPAN staff noted that St. Michael’s contributions exceeded that raised by the much larger St. Mary’s walkathon.) The committee agreed that May was a good time for the walk and that we will anticipate doing a similar walk next year.
Monica Dinan mentioned that we may want to revisit what we plan to collect for ASPAN in the basket collection for January. She will provide more information as we set the basket collection schedule for 2016.
Turkey Trot
Helen Hines was not able to attend the meeting but asked that the committee consider sponsoring the Turkey Trot again this year. St. Michael’s contributed $500 last year which allowed us to be listed as a sponsor of the event. Given that the funds raised go toward missions that we support (Doorways, ASPAN and AHC) and that a number of parishioners are involved in the event, the committee agreed to support it again this year with a contribution of $500.
Stop Hunger Now
Laura West reported on the project with the Church of Latter Day Saints to produce pre-packaged meals for those in need around the world. Members of St. Michael’s participated in this event last year and Mother Leslie also contributed funds through her discretionary fund. The event is scheduled for September 26 and Laura is taking the lead on coordinating participation by members of St. Michael’s. The committee subsequently voted to support this project with a contribution of $500.
Mission Aviation Fellowship
Evelyn Bence shared disturbing news of missionary neighbors of Tim and Liz Schandorff being robbed in Haiti. The Schandorffs recently returned to Haiti after spending time in the western part of the United States raising money for their work. Yellow envelope collections totaled $761 and the committee agreed to disburse $1500 for Tim and Liz’s missionary work through Mission Aviation Fellowship.
Episcopal Relief and Development
Caroline Haynes reported that she has been in touch with Mike Smith from ERD. They continue to work on capacity building in Africa. ERD was able to respond to the Ebola outbreak relatively quickly where they already had an on the ground operation in place.
Reading Connection
Lisa Harkins reported that Devon Harkins had a fruitful internship with the Reading Connection this year and that it provided valuable insight into the workings of a non-profit organization, as well as developing additional bonds between the organization and St. Michael’s. Yellow envelope contributions totaled $428 and the committee agreed to disburse $750 for Reading Connection.
Child Fund International
Lisa Harkins reported that Child Fund International is transitioning from supporting individual children in the US to supporting local community ministries. St. Michael’s has been supporting a child in Mississippi, Alonte, for a number of years and he is getting ready to age out of the program. We are paid up through May 2016 and we need to decide if we will allow the remaining funds to be used for the new Guardian Angels program, or if we would prefer to direct those funds elsewhere. Charley Roberts provided some useful benchmarking information from the Charity Navigator.
**Lisa did some additional research after the meeting and her email is copied below.
Salvation Army Angel Tree
Lisa Harkins noted that the Angel Tree is scheduled to be up in the parish hall on Sunday, November 22.
Solar Cookers
Janet Hansen noted that $539 has been collected for the solar cookers project but has not yet been disbursed. The committee agreed to wait until after the October yellow envelope collection to send a check. Janet also noted that the project has been expanded into two new refugee camps within Chad.
APAH
Linda Kelleher noted that 15 backpacks filled with school supplies had been donated to APAH. They have moved the collection, assembly and distribution site this year so that it will all be done in one location.
Doorways for Women and Families
Monica reported on a fundraising dinner that she attended with Elizabeth Keys. $376 was collected through the yellow envelope collection and the committee agreed to disburse $750.
Rector’s Discretionary Fund
Mother Leslie was out of town and not able to attend the meeting but Caroline noted that the Rector’s Discretionary Fund was quite low. The committee agreed to transfer $500 from an undesignated gift to the M&O fund to the Rector’s Discretionary Fund.
Summary of disbursements adopted unanimously by the committee:
Mission Aviation Fellowship$1,500
Doorways$ 750
Reading Connection$ 750
Turkey Trot$ 500
Stop Hunger Now$ 500
Rector’s Discretionary Fund$ 500
*Approved by email prior to the meeting:
AFAC$ 500
The committee adjourned at 8:38 pm.
Email from Lisa Harkins to M&O Committee members:
Hello All,
Here are answers to questions that came up at last night's meeting regarding Child Fund International's recent changes:
1. CFI is discontinuing sponsorship of children in the US because they found this wasn't successful. There are Federal programs in place to care for most immediate problems of poverty in the US. But this isn't true in other places in the world.
2. CFI believes that addressing the social issues of poverty - exposure to violence, drug abuse, crime, etc. is a better way to use these funds in the US. This is where the Guardian Angel Program (GAP) comes in. For more info on GAP, for those of you who weren't in attendance last night, please see CFI's website:
3. Our sponsorship for Alonte is paid through May 2016. Beginning in October, these funds will be put on hold until we decide whether to sponsor another child or put those funds toward GAP.
4. Right now, GAP is being implementedonlyin Mississippi. But eventually CFI wants it to go worldwide, although they don't know when that will happen. (I'm not sure why all the pamphlets I've received and the CFI website say GAP helps "children in the US and around the world.")
5. If we wish to sign on to GAP, we can designate that our funds be specifically used in the US. We will continue to sponsor our four other children around the world as usual.
I hope this helps clarify some issues. If you have any other questions, I can find out more from CFI.
We should decide what to do with Alonte's funds (either sign on to GAP or sponsor another child.) Should we vote on this?
As was mentioned last night, we can have a more complete discussion about CFI in the fall. Do we want to continue supporting CFI? Or perhaps it is time to check out similar ministries?
Thanks,
Lisa