April The Outreach Board has chosen The Utah Food Bank program “Kids Café” to receive donations designated to Outreach for the month of April. Kids Café: Kerri Duncan is in charge of Kids Café and she was excited to hear that we were supporting her program. “Filling the nutrition gap that exists during out-of-school hours with nutritious after-school meals.” They currently serve 2,000 meals a day. During the summer, when the children are not in school, they serve meals at parks and other locations. Utah Food Bank’s Kids Café is offered in partnership with educational after-school sites at local elementary schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, and community centers. Last year alone, this program provided 366,466 meals to children at risk of hunger. Kids Café meals provide the kind of nutrition that grows healthy, resilient bodies and minds. It helps fill the nutrition gap that often exists during out-of-school hours for many children who rely on free or reduced-price meal programs during the school day. The objectives of the program are twofold: first, to ensure that the children most vulnerable to hunger receive an evening meal, and second, to provide balanced nutrition in each meal served. Last year, our Kids Café kitchen staff prepared an average of 1,409 meals each weekday. These meals were packed and transported to 121 sites where at least 50% of the children qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches. Participating sites offer not only a way to satiate hunger, but also a safe place where children can participate in educational, recreational, and social activities under the supervision of trustworthy staff.
Sandwich Making: All Saints Episcopal Church makes sandwiches for St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall on the third Sunday of every month. (In April, sandwich making will be on April 21st.) Sandwiches are made upstairs immediately following our service. Please plan on joining us in this very worthwhile endeavor and for a wonderful time of fellowship. Won't you join us for this gathering and opportunity to serve others?
Thank you so much for participating in this ministry; it is an important part of All Saints'/FCC outreach!
Check it out: Local faith leaders gathered at the Utah State Capitol on January 18th in honor of Hunger and Homelessness Day at the legislature.They spoke in support of proposals that might further the goals of reducing homelessness. Our own pastor, Rev. Doug Gray, participated in the event. Check out the article written by Hanna Seariac for the Deseret News using this link: https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/18/24042574/utah-homelessness-intiatives-faith-leaders
Gloria Lee (on the left), from the Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Doug Gray (on the right), from the First Congregational Church of Salt Lake City photo credit: Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News
Faith, Hunger and Homelessness Day Rev. Gray’s Remarks Good morning! I am the Rev. Doug Gray, from the First Congregational Church of Salt Lake City. We were founded in 1865, the first faith community in Utah outside of the LDS church, and from the beginning we recognized the importance of radical hospitality. We shared our building with more than 70 of the longest-serving faith communities and service groups of Salt Lake City—including the Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and the Jewish faith community—as they were beginning or growing their lives and service. In our tradition, we remember that as Jesus was starting his ministry, he went to synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. From it Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18–19 NIV) We are here today as faith communities to proclaim this is the year of the Lord’s favor, when we will be mindful of the oppressed, concerned for the hungry, and dedicated to sheltering the housing insecure. We are people of prayer. We pray that our legislators and all Utahns would have hearts filled with compassion, and treat each human being with the dignity they deserve for being created in the image of God. But we also believe prayer and actions must go together—strong faith must find expression in caring for those in most need. The question is not whether there is need, but whether we have the political will to truly make a difference. Today, we call on the legislators and faith communities to turn their compassion into the will to make a difference with hunger and homelessness. With God’s help and our hard work, let us open the deep wells of grace and providence, and make this year the year of the Lord’s favor.