The Committee for Mission & Outreach meets on the third Monday of the month. The next meeting will be on December 21 at 7 PM in the Fireside Room.
See's Candy Sales to Benefit Local Habitat Builds
Mission & Outreach: Help for New Orleans
International Crafts Sale Help for The Living Room
Hat & Mitten Tree Shoebox Ministry
Paper or Plastic? Habitat for Humanity in Sebastopol
Thanks to you, Habitat Pledge Fulfilled Recycle Inkjet & Laser Cartridges
The members of the Adult Mission Trip to Terre Haute, Indiana gave a presentation and slide show during worship on September 20 and following worship, the congregation was invited to find out more about plans for a future adult mission trip.
Although there are no concrete plans at this time, the consensus of the group in attendance was to plan a mission trip for June or July of 2010 to either Mississippi or Florida. There is still time for you to voice your interest in making the trip – contact Joyce Cox or make plans to attend the next Mission & Outreach meeting.
All that is required is a willingness to help – no special skills are necessary to become part of a mission trip team. Sign up today!
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SEE’S CANDY SALES
Mission & Outreach will be offering See’s Candy again for Christmas. All proceeds will go to support the Community Church’s commitment to the local Habitat for Humanity building projects.
On November 29 and December 1 you will be able to pre order the one-pound assortment box to be picked up on December 15. Gift certificates and novelty boxes will be available for you to purchase and take with you on those dates as well. Look for the candy sale tables after church on November 29 and December 1 to put in a candy order.
See’s Candy will make a wonderful gift and help support Habitat for Humanity!
To find out more about the build in Sebastopol, visit their website at http://www.sonomacountyhabitat.org/
Hat & Mitten Tree (scarves & underwear too!)
The Mitten & Hat Tree will be up on November 29, ready for you to hang up warm hats, gloves, scarves, socks and even packages of underwear. These much needed gifts will be given to The Living Room in Santa Rosa, providing services to homeless women and children.
Mission & Outreach will also sponsor the Shoebox Ministry and the Mitten & Hat Tree. You will find the Shoebox Ministry list in this newsletter – the list will also be placed in each empty shoebox that you can pick up from church starting on the 1st Sunday in Advent, November 29. The wrapped shoeboxes are an important gift to homeless men, women and children and will be distributed by the Homeless Services Center.
International Crafts Sale a Success!
Thanks to you and your generous support, Mission & Outreach was able to send a check to Ten Thousand Villages for $2332.75. Ten Thousand Villages is an organization of the Mennonite Central Committee that pays artisans a fair market value for their wears that are sold by churches and other non-profit agencies. As a mission project, Mission & Outreach returns all of the proceeds to Ten Thousand Villages to continue helping Third World artisans. Thank you for your generous support!
submitted by Nancy C. Dougherty
Now back from our third mission trip to New Orleans, here is some more work we can all do from afar to speed along the recovery efforts: support and advocate an important piece of legislation, The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act of 2007 (H.R. 4048). This bill would provide a comprehensive plan to create 100,000 jobs for residents and evacuees to rebuild the public infrastructure. The bill empowers residents to realize their right to return with dignity and safety, revitalizes the local workforce and helps create more sustainable communities.
The origins of this bill are to be found in our own state at San Jose University, where in 2006 Professor Scott Myers-Lipton and his students developed the idea for the bill based upon the WPA of the New Deal. Now they lead a national campaign of students, faith-based and human rights organizations and others to support this bill. Here is what you can do to help:
Contact the Obama and McCain campaign offices to create a Gulf Coast Civic Works and ask for the new administration to sign an executive order, and re-direct federal money meant for recovery ($40 billion total, only half has been used) toward the GCCW Project.
Contact our representative, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, and ask her to use her influence on the Education and Labor Committee to hold a FULL Committee for this bill hearing rather than just in her sub-committee. This would expedite its progress, by not having to go through three sub-committees.
Right now is the critical time to be lobbying for this bill. It has to get enough sponsors - around 75 - in order to get Nancy Pelosi's attention. Right now there are 16 sponsors, Rep. Lynn Woolsey is one of them
There may be additional ways our local church can endorse this piece of legislation. On the national level, a number of churches are working together on an interfaith statement in support of Gulf Coast recovery based upon human rights principles. Stay tuned!
The Mission & Outreach Committee is recruiting committed individuals to volunteer at The Living Room program in Santa Rosa. Our goal is to form a team to work on a regular basis over the course of the next year at this daytime shelter for homeless women and children.
Here are a few of the volunteer jobs:
¨ serve breakfast (8 - 10:30) Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays
¨ serve lunch from (11 - 1:30) Tuesdays, Thursdays
¨ kitchen chefs and sous chefs needed on an on-call basis
¨ work at the front desk from (8 - 11:15 or 11 - 1:30 or all day) Mondays or Wednesdays
¨ work with the Mother and Child program (9 - 1 pm) Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
The Mission & Outreach Committee has chosen to support the Living Room program because of its importance as a resource for the homeless women and children in our community. Besides offering food and a comfortable place to be during the day, The Living Room provides many resources and great support to homeless women; from counseling, to guidance on job hunting, bus tickets, and classes on finances and budgeting.
If you are interested, or have any questions, call Nancy Dougherty at 829-3761 or Joyce Cox at 829-0750.
Collections for the Living Room
Mission & Outreach is asking for your help in their efforts to assist The Living Room, A Daytime Shelter for Homeless Women and Children, collect items from their Urgent Needs List. If you can help with any of these items, please bring them to the church office and Mission & Outreach will make sure they get to The Living Room where they will be greatly appreciated:
Backpacks for women Diapers, all sizes
Cloth grocery bags Baby wipes
Women’s underwear Boys & girls underwear, size 4-8
Sleeping bags Children’s socks, sizes 5 and up
Sanitary supplies
Do you love prowling the aisles at home improvement stores, enjoy fixing things, or just want to help recycle building materials while fueling low-income housing? ReStore needs you! Sales, display, cleanup of donations, merchandising and all other activities rely heavily on volunteer efforts. Be a part of Sonoma County's energetic recycler of new and used building materials, tools and appliances.
Volunteer opportunities abound at ReStore, Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County’s fundraising home improvement store. With spring on the way, we are looking to ramp up our volunteer program and need your help. We offer professional and weekend warriors a chance to help build a sustainable foundation for Habitat of Sonoma County, and for the environment as a whole.
Volunteer opportunity includes, but are not limited to:
 | Cleaning of the store and new items |
| Organizing/Shelf Stocking |
| Assisting with pick-ups and deliveries |
| Donation screening and receiving |
| Minor repairs |
| Data Entry |
| Promotions |
| Special Events |
We ask our volunteers to commit to a 4 hour shift, with 3 different shifts available each day. Shifts for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are: 9am-1pm, 11am-3pm, and 1pm-5pm; and Saturday shifts are 9am-1pm, 10:30am-2:30pm, and 12pm-4pm. Our pick-ups and deliveries are on Tuesdays, so we also need people able to lift a 50 lb minimum for those shifts. .
If you are interested in volunteering please call the ReStore Manager, Brent Billings, at 568-3228, 24 10th Street in Santa Rosa or visit www.sonomacountyhabitat.org/restore for more information.
A Word to the Wise from Mission & Outreach
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We cannot all equip our homes With brand new energy stars. For some, a hybrid can’t be bought With salaries like ours. |
And paper ones are not too good. They must be strong and so They’re made of mostly new paper – Recycled content’s low. |
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We cannot quit our jobs ‘cause We commute too many miles. And yet we know the earth is going Through many climate trials. |
And they don’t break down in the dump Cause that takes oxygen. And when they’re covered up with dirt It’s anaerobic then. |
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But hark! There is one little thing - A different grocery sack To make our carbon footprints shrink And put us right on track! |
And in the making of both kinds Pollutants must be used. And then our streams and air and earth Are sorrowfully abused. |
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We can supply ourselves with those Reusable bags we see In every store where we buy food So cheap they’re almost free! |
And both must travel many miles From where they’re made and then We’re back in carbon-laden land And using gas again! |
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Because if we use plastic ones Recycling has a catch. Plastic comes in several types - Their resins have to match! |
So when we’re at the check stand and They ask us whether either We want paper or plastic? Our answer can be “neither!” |
Janet Minton
The Sebastopol builds are up and running! Find out how you can work on site at www.sonomacountyhabitat.org. Volunteers are needed for the Faith Build and the Women’s Build, both on Johnson Street in Sebastopol.
Volunteers are invited to help build, assist in the office, work in the ReStore, serve on committees, and help with special projects that benefit the organization. Time commitments vary; some volunteers dedicate every day of the week and others spend just a few hours each month working on projects or in the ReStore. As a volunteer for Habitat, you can choose to volunteer as little or as often as you would like. All of these positions are a tremendous help that directly or indirectly result in the construction of simple, decent homes
Habitat for Humanity
The Family Resource Committee is looking for speakers for our Family Education Program. Habitat offers classes to new Habitat families as they transition into homeownership. Some suggested topics for classes include: yard care gardening/ landscaping, pet care and decorative painting and wall treatments. If you have expertise in one of these areas, or you have an idea and would like to teach a class, please call Darlene at the Habitat office (707) 578-7707 ext. 104.
Our classes are fun, informative, and a wonderful way to give to your community. This is an opportunity to share your experience with others. We hope you will join our team of mentor teachers.
Community Church fulfills $5000 Pledge to Habitat!
Once again, the congregation of the Community Church has stepped up to the plate (or candy dish?) with tremendous support for the Mission & Outreach See’s candy sales to help fund our Habitat for Humanity pledge. The Easter candy was a sell out and we are pleased to announce that with your generous help, the Community Church of Sebastopol has fulfilled our Habitat for Humanity Faith House build pledge of $5000. The faith build Habitat project will begin this summer in Sebastopol and information will be available soon on how you can participate in the actual construction project
Recycle your inkjet cartridges at church! Mission & Outreach is now collecting your empty cartridges to help support Habitat for Humanity and their local build in Sebastopol this summer. Bring your empty inkjet cartridges to the church office and help Mission & Outreach recycle and raise funds at the same time! In just over one year we raised $900 for SOL just by collecting empty cartridges – let’s top that as we collect for the Sonoma County Habitat for Humanity.
Please note: we are no longer able to take laser cartridges - just the smaller inkjet cartridges at this time.