Outreach

Welcome to Saint Mark’s Church Outreach. We seek to aid those beyond the doors of our church (Outreach) as well as within our own community (In Reach). We are always looking for ways to help and this page is a place to find resources you might need as well as find ways to volunteer and make suggestions.

Open Plate

A large part of our Outreach in recent years has been our Open Plate offerings. Each month a recipient is chosen to receive any funds in our collection that are not designated for Saint Mark’s. We have chosen organizations near and far, and we have tried to add a ‘hands on’ component where possible to augment our monetary donation. Listed below are the organizations we’ve donated to since 2019!

  • Afgan Evacuee Housing & Support @ Saint Pauls, Newburyport
  • American Heart Association
  • Boston Warm
  • B-Peace for Jorge Campaign
  • Common Cathedral/Ecclesia Ministries
  • Communities for Restorative Justice
  • Crisis Text Line
  • Daniel’s Table *
  • Dignity Matters
  • Equal Justice Initiative (Participated in a ‘circle’)
  • Family Promise Metrowest * (Participated in their annual walk)
  • Fresh Start Furniture Bank * (Created Kitchen Starter Kits and collected blankets)
  • Habitat for Humanity of Greater Worcester*
  • Heidrea for Heroes
  • Let’s Get Ready
  • Mass. Bail Fund *
  • MetroWest Humane Society
  • NAMI
  • NEADS
  • Oxfam America
  • ProGente Connections * (Taught ESL classes)
  • Raising A Reader (MA) * (Had a Read-A-Thon)
  • Rector’s Discretionary Fund *
  • Samaritans–Boston
  • Southborough Community Fridge *
  • Southborough Food Pantry (Backpacks for back to school)
  • Southborough Youth & Family Services
  • St. Francis House (Helped serve meals)
  • St. Marguerite’s School
  • Straight Ahead Ministries (Christmas gift bags +)
  • Support the Soupman
  • Ukraine Crisis Response

* – Donated to multiple months
() – Hands on outreach component

Sunshine Group

Part of our In Reach program is the Sunshine Group.  We maintain a freezer of meals (in the Parish Hall) which is open to all. We also run a card writing group for good news (graduations, babies, and other congratulations) as well as not-so-good news (sickness, deaths, etc.). If you know of anyone who needs some “sunshine”, you can reach out to the current chairs Donna Syers or Brenda Quinn (See Parish directory for contact information) You can also give us a shout-out if you want to help in any way by cooking, writing cards, etc.

Community Free Fridge

Saint Mark’s Church is hosting the Community Free Fridge which will provide fresh and packaged foods 24/7. It will be stocked and maintained by a group of volunteers from the larger community.

St. Francis House

Volunteers help serve food at Saint Francis House.

Fresh Start Kitchen Starter Kits

Twenty six kitchen starter kits were prepared and delivered to Fresh Start Furniture Bank thanks to the generosity of Saint Mark’s parishioners.

 

Fresh Start Blanket Drive

We collected 67 blankets , as well as sheets, towels, and kitchen items to donate! We had a goal of 50 blankets as part of their overall goal to collect 500 blankets.

Contact Outreach

To get involved in Outreach, make suggestions for those needing our support, or to see what resources are available, please contact the church office or Donna Syers.