Outreach

Each year St. Columba’s hosts special events for the community to help raise funds for our Outreach Programs. The proceeds from the Raffles and the Silent Auction at our Annual Garden Party (June 11, 2011) go to local agencies, the (becoming famous) Annual 5k Race/Walk for the Island (3rd Annual Race August 20th, 2011) and new this year the J-22 Regatta at Sail Newport on August 26.

The St. Columba's Outreach Committee responds to needs in the community, nation, and world, providing a helping hand in the spirit of Jesus Christ through prayer and action by members of the congregation. It also recommends charitable expenditures to the St. Columba’s Vestry. Some of the agencies we support are:

  • The first Thursday and Friday of December parishioners and their friends attend wreath workshops in the Parish Hall to make some amazing Christmas wreaths and center pieces for Lucy’s Hearth’s annual Wreath Sale, their major fund raiser.

  • “Soup’s On” at Emmanuel Church

    The first Tuesday of every month, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., volunteers from St. Columba’s help out at Emmanuel Church’s soup kitchen, making dinner for needy, hungry members of the Island community. You can just show up, but if you want more details call Lois Rogers at 849-3292 or email her at hrrlpr@cox.net. 

  • Salvation Army Food Pantry (food collected monthly on the first Sunday)

  • Meals on Wheels (taking prepared meals to the homebound)

  • Lucy’s Hearth (for women with children who need transitional housing)

  • Women’s Resource Center (assisting women and children affected by domestic violence)

  • East Bay Community Action Program (numerous health programs)

  • Interfaith Hospitality Network (a transitional program for the homeless on this island)

  • Star Kids (helping provide a good education for high-risk, low-income children)

  • The Blessing Way (assisting with transitions after prison, drug use, or mental health residency)

  • Martin Luther King Center (meals/food for those in need)

  • McKinney Shelter (for homeless men)

  • Plan 24 (sponsors needy children around the world)

  • Seamen’s Church Institute (aid for local and visiting mariners)

  • Episcopal Charities (through the R.I. Diocese for charitable agencies and programs throughout the state)

  • Episcopal Relief and Development (to help others in this country and in developing countries)

  • United Thank Offering (UTO) (supporting the church worldwide to meet compelling human needs)

To become involved with outreach, please contact Linda Finn at lindaf6@cox.net.  (Soup’s On: Lois Rogers, 849-3292 or hrrlpr@cox.net. Salvation Army Food Pantry: Colin Brown, 847-5571. Meals on Wheels and United Thank Offering: Bambi Bolles, 683-9032 or HWBolles@cox.net.)

To see more photos click here.