The 2006 Outreach Committee included Cindy, Joyce, Mary, Amy, Gail, Melissa, Mary Lee, Steve, Cindy, Dan, Marilyn, Vikki, and Melody [Chair].  This group cheerfully divided up the Outreach tasks during short workshop meetings held once every two months.  With the helpful assistance of a multitude of Christ Church members, we were once again able to deliver an amazing mountain of donations and services to people, especially children living in poverty in our community.

In its 2006 Monthly Focus efforts, Outreach:

q       January: collected $269 in cash donations to purchase bus tickets for Willis Dady Shelter clients.  From the Outreach budget, we designated $250 for Green Square Meals, $400 for the Neighborhood Meals & Enrichment Program, $250 for an Arc Scholarship for Summer Day Camp and $500 for the Willis Dady Center.

q       February: with the Jubilee Commission, we hosted Catherine McAuley Center teas following the 8 a.m. and 10:30 services on February 19, raising $644 in contributions.  Additional donations of $85 during February raised the total to $729.  In addition, detergent, sanitary handwipes, paper towels and large quantities of toilet paper were donated to the Catherine McAuley Center.

q       March: Congregational donations and $200 from Jubilee enabled purchase & delivery of hygiene items for Waypoint Women’s Shelter, and a $55 cash donation.

q       April: $50 HyVee gift certificates were given with an Easter card & candy to eleven families in need; ten Johnson School families and one Inn Circle family. A $50 gift certificate purchased for a family who moved unexpectedly and $115 in cash donations were given to the Loaves & Fishes food pantry for food purchases.  Bags of Easter candy were delivered to children living in local shelters.

q       May: $1,742 in proceeds from the spring A-Z sale were distributed to: Arc of East Central Iowa - $500 (summer day camp scholarships), Miracles in Motion - $300, Neighborhood Meals and Enrichment Program - $150, scholarships for the Returning Prisoner Simulation Program - $120, yarn for women at Mitchellville prison - $172, H.D. Youth Center - $300, and Heart of Iowa - $200.  Also during May, summer day camp items including juice, frying pans, paper towels, bathing suits, cameras and cash donations were collected for the Arc of East Central Iowa.

q       June: collected 40 jars/cans of spaghetti sauce and nearly 12 lbs. of pasta for the Neighborhood Meals & Enrichment Program.

q       July: 60 packs and/or notebooks of widelined notebook paper were delivered to Inn Circle, and two carloads of donated school supplies were delivered to Johnson School of the Arts.   In addition, $125 donated for school supplies was used by Outreach to purchase items that the counselor indicated were in short supply at Johnson School.

q       August: generous donations of baby clothing, toys and diapers were collected & delivered to Heart of Iowa.  In addition, 47 pairs of athletic shoes were collected, then delivered to St. Paul’s Cathedral, Des Moines, to be distributed in Africa & Central America through One World Running.

q       September: $1,565 in fall A-Z Sale proceeds were distributed to: H.D. Youth Center - $500, Multiple Sclerosis Society - $65, Willis Dady Center - $300, Heart of Iowa - $166, Neighborhood Meals and Enrichment Program - $300, and stamps for women in Mitchellville prison - $234.

q       October: A wonderful winter wear [hats, gloves, mittens, earmuffs, scarves & socks] response by the congregation was augmented by four heaping clothes baskets of knitted hat, scarf & mitten sets from the women at Mitchellville – all for the children at Johnson School.  Thirty-five bags of Halloween candy were delivered to children living in shelters, and 41 dozen books were donated, including a number of Spanish-English books, for children in transition.  Christ Church children helped with the book project; two boxes of books were donated by the Heart-Land children, who also made bookmarks to be given along with the books.

q       November: 13 thanksgiving cards & dinner gift certificates [$50] were provided for ten Johnson School families, our Inn Circle family, a Community Health Free Clinic family, and at the last minute, a family whose sole parent was undergoing chemotherapy.  Generous donations enabled Outreach to provide $100 to Loaves and Fishes for food purchases.  Gifts were collected and provided to the H.D. Youth Center for their annual Christmas give-away program, & new, unwrapped toys were collected for Joyce Conley’s son Bryan to give to children in a Katrina-devastated area of Louisiana on Christmas Day.  Outreach participated in the Alternative Gift Market sponsoring the local Neighborhood Meals & Enrichment Program, & the international Wheelchairs for Cambodia program as well as providing baked goods for the AGM on November 4.

q       December: 80+ Christmas gifts & a Christmas card with a $50 Christmas food gift certificates were given to ten Johnson School families, our Inn Circle family & Community Health Free Medical Clinic family. Special thanks to Dick & Kate Rose for providing cards & envelopes for Outreach use throughout the year, and to Nancy McHugh for inscribing the holiday cards and certificates so beautifully.  In addition to the toys and gifts for the H.D. Youth Center and the Katrina children in Louisiana, extra Christmas toys and decorations were delivered to the Harambee House & Willis Dady Shelter.  Generous donations received for the Christmas dinner certificates meant additional funds were available for Loaves & Fishes food purchases. 

In 2006, 670+ Outreach deliveries were made of material goods & services to others, including CROP, Arc of East Central Iowa, Neighborhood Meals & Enrichment Program, Habitat for Humanity, Cedar Rapids Furniture Project, Miracles in Motion, Planned Parenthood, Willis Dady Shelter, Catholic Worker House, H.D. Youth Center, Women’s Emergency Shelter, Waypoint, Heart of Iowa, Catherine McAuley Center, Goodwill Industries, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Johnson School, KGAN Fans, Head Start, Jane Boyd Community Center, Medical Closet at Grace Church, Metro Area Housing, Rapid AIDS, Olivet Mission, Cedar Valley Humane Society, Grant Wood Red Cross, Green Square Meals [where our members volunteer to serve each month], Safe Place, Madge Philips Center, Y’s Buy’s, Inn Circle, Crestview Acres, Manor Care, Harambee House, Four Oaks, HACAP, Ronald McDonald House, St. Jude’s Ranch, Marist Sisters, Lion’s Club, Women’s Chapel at Mitchellville, Missionaries & an ever growing number of individual families.  No committee could do all this on its own, so additional thanks go to Outreach helpers: Bill, Fred & Helen, Ellen & Juergen, Paul, Norman, Colleen, Harold, Jim, Jim, Tom & Liz, Ron, Ron, Jim, JoAnn, Linda, Susan, Mary Lou, Sally and Irene.