Outreach
St. Martin's outreach goal is to address social, environmental and justice problems and their causes. Because the Church participates in God's mission, we are called to demonstrate to others that God loves them and sends us to love and serve them.Outreach for St. Martin's is run by a coordinator, an ad hoc advisory Outreach Committee, and the volunteers who participate in the activities. Some of our activities are single events, some are in support of outreach actions undertaken by individual parishioners, and some are ongoing actions. Specific outreach tasks in the community are chosen because they are needed, visible, focused, suit our talents and interests, and can be done as a group. People are recruited for specific activities individually or through a general invitation to participate, depending on what skills and how many volunteers are needed.
Some recent activities include:
- Cookie baking in support of Kairos Prison Ministry,
- Shoreline cleanup at Drumbeg Park,
- Ongoing food bank donations, collected at the weekly worship service.
- Friday hot lunches at People for a Healthy Community (PHC), our local social services agency, in collaboration with the Gabriola United Church and PHC; the pilot project for 3 months was extended to the end of the school year and will be started again in September.
- Two visits to the Nanaimo Correctional Centre (NCC) supporting chapel services with music and refreshments.
- A public presentation of several outreach activities undertaken by individuals and by the outreach team.
Besides the work mobilized by the Outreach volunteers, our parish makes regular budgeted financial donations to the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund and supports two children through Foster Parents Plan.