Wear RED – Sunday, May 24th
May 24 is Pentecost Sunday. To launch our three-month celebration of the birth of the church, we would like to invite everyone to wear at least a touch of red next Sunday!
Habitat for Humanity – Call for Volunteers
With the blessing of the Leadership Team, the Mid Atlantic District (MAD) will build a Habitat House in the spring of 2016. We are working with the Washington County Habitat for Humanity Chapter. The lot will be in Hagerstown. The build will be under the direction of the Service and Outreach Committee of MAD.
In order to accomplish this we will need lots of help from the churches in the district. We will need the following people to serve:
A Project Leader – this individual will have overall responsibility for the project. This person needs to be someone who has extensive experience in construction and can give supervision to those working on the house.
House Leader – this individual assures that all support functions are in place for the building project. This person will oversee the activities of all construction volunteers.
Crew Leader – this individual will assemble the crews to complete each phase of construction. This person will be assigned to give on the job training and supervision.
Procurement Leader – this individual will be willing to solicit donations or discounts for building supplies and services. This person will work closely with the committee to ensure that the materials are in place for the build.
Fund Raising Coordinator – this individual will have organizational skills to help raise money for the project.
Volunteer Coordinator- this individual will work closely with the house leader to see how many volunteers are needed for each workday, and the types of skills needed.
Hospitality Coordinator – will see the workers have lunch and snacks for the build.
Publicity Coordinator – this individual will see the project gets noticed by the churches in the district.
Besides these jobs your church can be in prayer about this project and also be supportive by offering financial help. This is a worthwhile project to give a worthy family a better place to live. With lots of prayer and support our District can work together to achieve this great ministry. If you are interested please feel free to call the district office or call the Chair of the Service and Outreach Glenn Young (301-331-8010).
Brethren Nutrition Program Fundraiser (BNP)
The Action Reflection Committee will be raising funds by holding a walk for the hungry after worship on May 17, to benefit the Brethren Nutrition Program (BNP) located at the Washington City Church of the Brethren. This is the only food program available on Capitol Hill. Our goal is to raise $1600 ($200 to repair the grease trap + $1400 for pipe replacement in the kitchen & restroom).
Please consider sponsoring a walker or just making a contribution! Sponsorship forms will be available on Sunday, May 3rd.
Checks can be made out to the Oakton Church of the Brethren and designated “BNP”. Thank you for your continued support!
~The Action/Reflection Committee
BNP Update
I’d like to begin this BNP (Brethren Nutrition Program) update by passing along some very grateful “Thank you’s”. The first of these comes from Carolyn Nestman, the current director of BNP. The second thank-you comes from me. Thank-you to the Oakton COB and wider community of friends for your support of BNP. The soup kitchen is now serving hot lunch 4 days of each week.
In summary, last year’s fund raising walk did indeed raise the funds necessary to replace the soup kitchen’s major appliances. New (industrial size and quality) freezer and refrigerator were purchased. The sponsored walkers raised over $5,000. Some additional funds were approved and donated by the Oakton Church Board which supplied the funds BNP needed to properly disassemble and dispose of the expired/damaged/retired freon-containing equipment.
Last October, a Saturday all-church cooking day produced 30 gallons of assorted “high nutrition value” soups and approximately 40 m pounds of chopped fresh produce. Both soups and chopped vegetables were then frozen and picked up from the church the next Monday by Carolyn Nestman. Another than-you here, to Garner’s Produce, for their sizable donation to our cooking day project.
During November and December of 2014, the Action/Reflection committee held a food collection focused on non-perishable items for BNP. In early January 2015, Carolyn met me at the church to pick up those non-perishable items. Another shout out THANK-YOU! goes here to Karl Wilkerson. Yes, God does provide. Karl arrived at the church a timely, though unexpected, point and relocated plastic bins from inside to outside. This permitted Carolyn and I to successfully load them into her car. Those plastic bins contained between 450 and 500 pounds of non-perishable foods. Reality states this: I would not have been able to get those bins outside without unloading and re-loading them! Also, thanks to Jan Fischer-Bachman and her crew who served lunch at the BNP soup kitchen the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. They transported the very first bin of non-perishable foods, around 90 pounds if I remember correctly.
As to future support of BVNP – stay tuned in. The 2015 walk is scheduled for Sunday May 17th. The sponsored walkers’ funds of this year’s walk are targeted for necessary plumbing work at BNP soup kitchen. Details and needed dollar amount will be clarified soon. The next all church cooking day is scheduled on Saturday October 17th from 1PM to 6PM. Also planned for this year’s all church cooking day — the cookk at home option. Some time prior to October 17th, a couple of recipes will be provided for those individuals with either time restriction/conflict or preference to cook at home. more details — later.
I’ve asked these questions before and I’m going to ask again. Have you ever been hungry? Do you know someone who is hungry? To “put a face” on hunger, it is the face of one of every five people in the United States at the present time. Yes, the homeless population is hungry’ there are many more hungry also — co-workers, neighbors, friends. those having to choose between eating and paying the heating bill, or paying medical bills, or buying snow boots…or…or…or.
Please put some thought into what an individual could do to help feed those 1 in 5. Here I’d like to tell my own short story. It starts with chocolate. As some of the children might remember from a past children’s story: I like chocolate; the darker it is the better it is.
So, I eat dark chocolate covered peanut butter cups. not every day, not even every week but I do enjoy them. For an extended period of time the particular brand I buy has contained (in each pack) a coupon for a free 1.75 ounce trial packet of that company’s almond butter. I’ve been saving coupons — might want to try the almond butter sometime. Well, these coupons expire on 7/5/15. I don’t know how many years I’ve been saving the coupons; I do know I have more than a few.
Step 1: Interesting thought enters my mind; do my math. One trial packet of almond butter contains 6 grams of protein. Yes, my brain often thinks outside the box but roll with me here! Any average individual’s daily protein requirement is based on age, weight, height. For adults that generally equals 35-50 grams of protein per day. For children however, ages 4-10, top end in weight based required need is 27 grams per day. For children ages 1-3, the daily requirement is 13 grams per day.
Step 2: My “aha” moment. One packet of almond butter (containing 6 grams of protein) goes quite a useful distance if I’m thinking about feeding youngsters. So, I count my coupons (more math!) I found I had 6 dozen coupons. Read the details, 1 coupon per purchase; I’ll have to work around this was my next thought.
Step 3: Go to the store with 2 dozen coupons. Ask at the customer service desk if I can use them all at 1 time. I’m “buying” the free almond butter packets for donation to a local food pantry. per customer service representative, “Yes, I’ll let you do this since it’s for hungry kids; no tax to pay even since it’s for donation.”
Step 4: Leave the store with 2 dozen free packets of almond butter for a local food pantry. I’ve since returned to the store, collected 5 dozen more almond butter packets and delivered them to the individual who runs the day-to-day functions of this particular food pantry.
The really interesting part of my story — the customer service rep was once one of those hungry children. Different time and different country. He remembers and he knows.
So, that is my story. Think about what might become yours. Do you throw out coupons thinking you’ll never use them? Could they be used? I know I’m not the only individual who has a personal project. I can’t tell any other stories though; I didn’t yet ask for others’ permission to do so. I’ll simply close with this traditional Franciscan benediction:
“May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.”
~Cathy Carson
Where Do All the Blankets Go?
And how does this happen? The loosely organized blanket project has completed and delivered many blankets, 200 and counting. A number of hats, scarves and a dozen or so prayers shawls have also been completed and delivered. The key to this project’s on going nature —- it is still very loosely organized.
The yarn we use is all donated. That happens something like this: we cleaned out mom’s closet — brought you some yarn for blankets; we cleaned out our closets — brought you some yarn; I was at this or that craft show or flea market — found some yarn for you. “I want to support this project, AC Moore was having a sale, so I brought you 20 pounds of yarn. It’s in my car — brought it for you in support because, as you know, I don’t have the patience to do this kind of craft myself.” This from one of my patients — part of our wider based community support. Likewise — here’s a little bit of money to get what you need to finish a blanket. This happened twice when a particular blanket required a bit more yarn of specific color and weight to be completed. Newest input of donated yarn — 38 pounds of yarn from my brother-in-law. He bought it for $5 at his church’s “gym sale” (to hot to hold the yard sale outside) and gave it to me. So you get the general idea — all yarn donated in some fashion.
Now, who actually makes these blankets and/or blanket component parts? A whole bunch of people; our current “cadre” of crafters ranges in age from 3 to over 90 years in age. I don’t know if any of us were professionally trained (the technically correct definition of cadre). I’m guessing probably not? Who are these yarn suppliers, crafters and assemblers? There are at least 2 dozen people from Oakton COB and probably a few more I don’t know about. I’m not going to name anyone because I’d probably forget somebody. Another 14 providers reside in the wider Fairfax community are, a few more in western and south-western VA. In sum total, the “cadre” also has participants from 4 others states — PA, MD, WV and NC. Whenever I see these individuals they deliver whatever supplies, parts or finished product they have.
All items which are made or donated stay within the local area. They are delivered to particular individuals in need, domestic safe-houses, homeless shelters and the Ronald McDonald House in Falls Church, VA. With permission, I’d like to share the “stories” of some of these blankets. First the story of 3 handmade quilts: they were purchased at the Southern PA/Atlantic Northeast Districts Disaster Relief Auction in September of last year. The purchaser then donated these quilts to me with the request that they go to the Ronald McDonald House. They did. There is another story behind this story but we aren’t going to see or hear that one — also the purchaser’s request. Story #2: the Peace blanket. This one was made by an Explorer’s Sunday School class. Red, bright, colorful and cheerful. It also went to the Ronald McDonald House.
Then there’s Laela. I first met Laela when she was 3 years old. She was the youngest member of a refugee family, fleeing from a country full of violence. A couple of years after they arrived, an apartment building fire destroyed everything they had. They were placed in temporary housing and because I could, I made a blanket for each family member. fast forward, Laela’s not a child anymore. She now lives in VA, is married and they have 4 boys ( 2 sets of twins). Boys can be hard on clothes; her guys are.
Laela is a weaver; she has become the only weaver (so far) of our loosely organized blanket project. She uses her boys’ “exhausted” clothing, tears it into strips and weaves blankets. Some of her blankets are heavy enough to also serve as sleeping mats. Because people in the past helped her, she is now providing the same help to others in need.
Our youngest crafter(3 years old) is now 7 years old. She says I can tell her story but I can’t use her name. Four years ago she was the only survivor when the family’s home exploded and burned; she was at a sleep-over at a friend’s house — birthday sleep-over. Because officials determined the family was targeted, she was placed in a safe-house. While there, she met a very young mother-to-be. This young woman cared for our youngster as if she were her own daughter. Little one asked me if I’d help her make a blanket for the baby soon to arrive because “everybody needs to be warm”. I showed her a basic crochet stitch, guided her hands through a couple of rows. Next thing I saw was a finished blanket that “needs a edge”. So, I put on the border. Now, almost 8 years old and resettled into her new life, she still contributes blanket parts. She makes them in between studies, soccer practice, …….!
And then there is the story of our VERY LARGE blanket, the only blanket that will be actually leaving the immediate area when completed. It will be going to PA to my brother-in-law; he is assisting a homeless veteran. The veteran is nearly 7′ tall so he will actually use a blanket that is 6’8″ wide and 8’6″ or a little bit more long. How will this blanket get sio big? Well, our NC crafters do provide. The NC “cadre” is 5 members from a L’Arche community. All old enough to be retired, these 5 guys make parts for blankets; their work is loosely supervised by a house parent.
Their blanket work started one day when one was in my office. There was a blanket in my office; I was finishing the last of the border between patients so I could deliver it that evening. He asked me what I was doing; m I told him. He said he wanted to help too. So, after talking with their house parent I sent them home to NC with some yarn and a really basic pattern for some blanket strips. The next time I see this crew, they have 9 blanket strips made. All strips were the same width, but 9 different lengths ranging from 5′ to 8’3″. That was when I learned that these guys sing while they craft. Apparently singing and counting are mutually exclusive activities. What do you get — a VERY LARGE blanket. Where will it go? TO a VERY TALL homeless veteran.
As you can begin to see, this ongoing project is very loosely organized. However, nothing donated is ever wasted. Shelters and safe-houses don’t want wool blankets — to many wool allergies and laundry issues. My personal project at the moment is a wool blanket being made from all donated yarn that is any percent wool. Although there is not yet enough of that type of yarn to finish the blanket, I’ve started it because the intended recipient has need. She is a recent arrival from Nigeria and she is cold!!!!! (This article was written in February).
Also cold is Lian; he’s the 6 year old Filipino child who is now the youngest member of a household of nine individuals. I took one blanket with me about 2 weeks ago, needed a floor to spread it out on for some measurements. I got home from work one day and found Lian curled up on the sofa under this blanket, asked him if he was staying warm. He said yes but asked me why the blanket had holes in it. Well, I told him it wasn’t finished yet and asked, since he was under it did he want to do some work on it. I was only kidding but he thoroughly surprised me by saying yes. I don;t say no to contributions so I showed him a couple of things. We spent some time on the sofa working on this blanket from opposite ends. Currently our youngest crafter, 6 year old Lian has already made 9 more squares for blankets. To many school days and Lian doesn’t like to be cold! While the rest of the family is building a snow family he’s been making blanket squares. Oscar, the 17 year old cocker spaniel, has been the tester as to their suitability for laying on or under. Oscar doesn’t like the cold either.
Our providers vary widely in age and location. I would like to end this article with Mani’s story. Manuel was the recipient of the very firt blanket that the folks at Oakton COB completed. At that time, Manuel was working for a northern VA home construction business. I know the man who owns the company. He brought Mani in the see me when he got hurt on the job. I don’t remember who found out first that Mani was sleeping outdoors. We learned he was doing this so to send funds to his family. He chose to sleep outdoors instead of spending about $1000 per month to rent an apartment.
Manuel came to this country from Guatemala as a political refuge seeking asylum. He had become persona non grata when he refused to build a dam. He chose not to destroy the livelihood and very existence of those living upriver from the proposed dam. He came alone; his family was being moved every so often by the International Red Cross.
I learned from my friend that he had learned, a few days after hiring Mani, that he had employed a British educated college graduate. Yes, a MS in concrete engineering but his degree was useless in the US. Mani’s credentials were were considered no good here and his ethics/moral choices got hi chased out of Guatemala.
When we learned he was sleeping outdoors, he received the first blanket the Oakton crew completed. It was a very heavy, warm, wool blanket. His boss bought him an Arctic rated sleeping bag and a proper tent. His boss also navigated the system in several counties where he had project sites. Permissions were granted for Mani to pitch his tent on whatever project site needed overnight supervision, no harassment thank you; he’s there because I want him to be.
With his boss’s help over the last several years, Manuel has rebuilt his life. First he became a US citizen, he’ll never return to Guatemala. There is still a price on his head. Knowing his qualifications as concrete engineer, Mani’s former boss, well technically still his boss, assisted him in finding higher paying work as a concrete engineer. Since Mani couldn’t do this himself, my pal (his boss) bid on some bridge projects in NV. The projects are a combination of bridge repair and new bridge construction. Mr. boss man won the contracts and hired Mani to move to NV and run the projects. Why NV?
The story continues; housing is cheap in NV. Mr. boss man loaned Mani the funds for a 50% down payment on a home. Manuel and his family are now reunited and have a “roof” over their heads. All are doing well and Mani is thoroughly enjoying the work he is educated and qualified to do.
And that first blanket, he left it as well as the sleeping bag and the tent: in VA with his boss. “For the next one who does good work and needs some help”. Yes, I originally loosely organized this blanket project. Have yarn remainders? Do something with them. At 200 blankets and counting, this is still a very loosely organized outreach. It has however, expanded beyond even my wildest dreams.
~Cathy Carson