Outreach
Contact: Jerry Hulbert
The Outreach Commission at St Martin’s meets monthly to coordinate a wide variety of projects and programs. The disbursal of the annual Matthew 25 and other Outreach funds, recommendations regarding Special Offerings, the St. Martin’s Annual Scholarship Program, eyeglass and cellular phone re-cycle programs, the United Thanks Offering (UTO) and the Christine Blanchard Thanksgiving Basket Project are examples of activities we coordinate. “Each Person….Each Week….One Item of Food” is the motto of our parish-wide weekly Sunday food in-gatherings. Donations typically approximate 8 to 10 shopping bags of food, which are then taken to Davis or Dixon food closets by a cadre of dedicated St. Martin’s volunteers.
Not only do we stress financial support of local, national and international needs, but as a Jubilee Parish, one of our goals is to help lead our parishioners into new areas of “hands on” outreach programs, service projects and “social action” discussions. Support of the Rebuilding Together program, Davis Community Meals, local homeless shelter efforts and a study of current local and national immigration issues are currently being given special emphasis.
The Outreach Commission typically meets the first Sunday of each month after the last service in the Blanchard Library. We usually have about 15 people serving on the commission. All interested parishioners are encouraged to attend our meetings or, better yet, join our commission.
St. Martin Tithes
One of our commission’s major goals is to help St. Martins “Strive to Tithe” as a parish (e.g. 10% of pledge and plate annually designated for Outreach activities).
Habitat for Humanity Walkathon – October 24, 2009 Flyer
Davis Community Meals
Davis Community Meals serves three nutritious meals per week (Tuesday and Thursday 5:45 PM.; Saturday 11:30 AM) using St. Martin’s kitchen and parish hall. St. Martin’s members join many other groups and individuals from the Davis community to serve as volunteers at the meals, assisting with tasks such as set-up, clean-up, and serving. In the winter, St. Martin’s also provides sandwiches for the evening meal at DCM’s Cold Weather Shelter.
Rebuilding Together 2009 Homeless Shelter Renovation
Complete 2009 pictures are available here.
St. Martin’s is bringing the second Rebuilding Together project to Davis this coming April. Rebuilding Together’s mission is to preserve homes and communities for low-income seniors, families with children and people with disabilities. The organization’s vision is a safe and healthy home/facility for every person. St. Martin’s completed a similar project in Fall 2007.
The upcoming project is to renovate the Davis Community Meals Transitional Housing Shelter and Resource Center. Davis Community Meals is a non-profit, non-denominational organization providing low-income and homeless individuals and families with housing, food, and human services to help them rebuild their lives. The shelter, located at 1111 H Street, serves 14 long-term residents for up to 18 months and has two emergency shelter beds. The building also houses a day time Resource Center where drop-in clients are provided access to basic life necessities such as showers, laundry facilities, telephones, help with transportation arrangements, a mailing address, and a computer room.
The much needed maintenance and improvements include adding rain gutters, replacing flooring, adding parking areas, upgrading a bathroom to ADA standards, replacing old windows with double-paned, and installing drainage, landscaping and fencing. The Rebuilding Together work weekends are April 25 – 26 and May 2 – 3.
The Celebration of Abraham, an organization founded to foster understanding between Davis Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities, has designated this project as their community project for this year. The Davis Firefighters Union has also pledged financial and volunteer help.
We are still in need of a few volunteers. We also still need financial support. For more information, contact project captain Jim Borchers (jimborchers@sbcglobal.net). If you wish to donate, checks can be written to St. Martin’s Church with “Rebuilding Together” in the memo line and sent to 640 Hawthorn Lane, Davis, CA 95616.
12 Step Programs
St. Martin’s opens our facilities for the following groups to hold their meetings and activities: Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Narcotics Anonymous. As of summer of 2008, meetings were held at St Martin at the following times:
Monday 6:30 & 8 PM
Wednesday 6:30 & 8 PM
Thursday 7 PM
Friday 7PM
Saturday Noon
Please call AA at 1-800-970-9040 for times and dates of other meetings in the Davis area.
Scouting
We provide space for several Scout troops in our area. Please call the local Scout organization for specific information.
