To learn more about our Outreach ministries, check out the big bulletin board in the coat rack hall.

Jesus’ brothers and sisters are all around us,

and we’re committed to serving them

             – in Kansas City,

             in Haiti,

                                   and wherever else
                          God leads us.

Volunteer and Service Opportunities

St. Andrew’s – At Work in Your Community

One of our core values is “serving in God’s world,” but have you ever wondered what that looks like in our own backyard?  Here’s a snapshot of our Outreach ministries here in Kansas City:

BackSnacks

Done-in-a-Day

Kansas City Community Kitchen

KCCK Free Store

The BackSnack Ministry

Parishioners fill backpacks with food for hungry students living just a few miles from the church.  Last school year, we partnered with Blenheim Elementary, with parishioners giving more than 125 hours to stuff 4,000 packets of food.  This year, our partner school will be Benjamin Banneker School, located at Gregory and Askew in east Kansas City.  Our goal is to step up our commitment to “our kids” at Banneker through community gatherings and mentoring opportunities, as well as BackSnack.

Father John, Gerry Barker and Cathy Corey represented Saint Andrew's while our friends at Banneker enjoyed their Fall Festival and inside picnic. Kansas City Wizards players signed autographs and practiced kicks with the kids in the gym, registered dieticians handed out healthy smoothies and John and Gerry helped with the food line in the cafeteria. It was a fun and safe environment for the students and their families.  John and Cathy also handed out mini-candy bars - we made several instant friends!

Click here to view pictures from this event!

To see pictures from September's BackSnack event, click here!

Contact :  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 913.381.2812

Done-in-a-Day

Done-in-a Day Projects are enjoyable volunteer/service opportunities for St. Andrew’s parishioners that can be completed in less than a day.

St. Andrew’s volunteers have stuffed seed packets at the Kansas City Community Gardens, joined other community organizations to paint Ladd Elementary School as part of the Hands of Hope project, and worked on a Habitat for Humanity house, helped make cookies and decorate for a Rose Brooks Halloween party and so much more! Check the OutReach News page to see if there's a current Done-in-a-Day Project where you can help!

Contact:           Richard Moseley 913.432.3430

The Kansas City Community Kitchen

The Kansas City Community Kitchen(KCCK), located at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Kansas City, offers a weekday hot-lunch program for the poor and homeless. It currently serves 500 meals a day. The kitchen receives government grants, as well as financial and in-kind donations. St. Andrew’s supports this important ministry by providing volunteers to serve clients every Friday as well as food items and grants.

More than 100 parishioners volunteer to serve clients at the Kansas City Community Kitchen.  Every Friday, a team of six St. Andrew’s members feeds a hot lunch to about 400 people.

Contact: Brian Egbert 913.226.6719

KCCK "Free Store"  

St. Andrew’s serves as the collection point for goods donated for KCCK clients by local businesses and organizations.  Periodically, we set up a “commissary” during lunch at the KCCK, where clients can select from items such as socks, T-shirts, underwear, sunscreen, toiletries, toothbrushes and toothpaste.  To get involved, contact Joy Krug or Julie Gilchrist.

Contacts: Joy Krug 816.363.9268
Julie Gilchrist 816.722.0058

Culinary Cornerstones Training Program

We award the Mary Ann Diehl Scholarship each year, a gift of $5,000 that supports a student through the Culinary Cornerstones job-training program at the KCCK.

St. Andrew’s – At Work in God's world

One of our core values is “serving in God’s world,”  and here’s a snapshot of our Outreach ministries work in the world:

H.E.L.P.

Maison de Naissance

St. Augustine's School

St. Andrew’s Haiti Mission

St. Andrew's is a member of the Haitian Episcopal Learning Partnerships – HELP - an organization of ten Episcopal Churches in greater Kansas City dedicated to supporting education, health and nutrition, economic development and literacy in Haiti. St. Andrews’s specific Haitian focus is St. Augustine’s Church and School in Maniche, Haiti, as well as the Maison de Naissance Birthing Center.

St. Augustine’s Church and School, Maniche, Haiti

St. Andrew's Church is the sole benefactor of St. Augustine’s school, providing teachers’ salaries as well as school upkeep. The goals for the next few years are to continue to improve the standard of education, provide a safe environment in which to learn, and to look for opportunities to "leap frog" the education from a 19th century model to a 21st century model.

Maison de Naissance, Torbeck, Haiti
Healthy Mothers-Healthy Babies Program

Maison de Naissance is a maternity center designed as a birthing home. Its mission is to provide preferential care for mothers and babies in extreme poverty in Haiti. The Healthy Mothers-Healthy Babies program provides outstanding pregnancy and infant care for the villages.

To learn more about their project and other MN news, please click here to read our newsletter “Dekabes!” And, we encourage you to share the MN story with your friends.

Contact: Kathy and Stan Shaffer 913.262.8483

Funding and Resource Development

For 2008-09, the St. Andrew’s Vestry resolved to allocate 4% of pledged income to OutReach efforts along with 10% of net proceeds from designated church fundraisers.

OutReach Fundraising Efforts

Advent Fundraiser for St. Augustine’s School in Haiti

Parishioners have the opportunity to “adopt” students at our partner school in Maniche, Haiti, and support the cost of their education for a year.  Parishioners receive cards with photos of the students they support. (The cards make excellent Christmas gifts!) Other giving options include providing the cost of the school-lunch program one day per week or paying the annual salary for a teacher. Click here for more information.

Contact: Kathy Shaffer 913.262.8483

Fools for Christ’s Sake Dinner

This annual April parish party is a major OutReach ministries fundraising event. Each year's event included entertainment and a fabulous dinner. Proceeds support our OutReach efforts.

Contact:  Gerry Barker 913.236.7367
Carolyn Kroh 913.722.5171
Anne Renne 913.341.5008
Kathy Shaffer 913.262.8483

Grants and Donations

In 2008, the OutReach Commission supported the following organizations.

Kansas City Community Kitchen

 Created the Mary Ann Diehl Scholarship for a student at Culinary Cornerstones (the Kitchen’s food service training program) in memory of Mary Ann’s dedication in promoting this ministry and leading the St. Andrew’s volunteer efforts at the Kitchen for many years.

Kansas City Community Kitchen

Provided ponchos, water bottles, socks, and various toiletries to clients. Gifts were partially funded through a grant from the parish OutRreach budget. OutReach also held an Advent OutReach program that provided holiday gift bags for clients served by the Kitchen (Link to Advent Project for Kansas City Community Kitchen see below)

St. Augustine’s School in Maniche, Haiti –

Provided a grant to help support the cost of a new roof and the floor of a second story on the school.  We’re also providing books and school supplies for the students.

Maison de Naissance Birthing Center -  St. Andrew’s supported the cost of educating a nurse midwife to serve at the birthing center. Note: Because that grant triggered a matching-grant, a second midwife will be trained as a result of the St. Andrew’s gift.

Special OutReach Opportunities

Advent Project for the Kansas City Community Kitchen

During Advent, parishioners donate items such as hats, socks, scarves and gloves to about 500 people served by the Kansas City Community Kitchen. Volunteers assemble gift bags, which are distributed the Friday before Christmas.

Contact:   Joy Krug 816.363.9268      
Julie Gilchrist 913.722.0058

Spring Poncho Project

During the spring rainy season parisioners collect and donate ponchos and other personal items to Kansas City Community Kitchen clients.

Contact:   Joy Krug 816.363.9268      
Julie Gilchrist 913.722.0058

Mission Trips

Haiti Mission Trip

Each winter or spring parishioners can join a week-long mission trip to Haiti where they work with the people of both the Maison de Naissance birthing center and St. Augustne’s School. Trips are usually led by Fr. John Spicer and include time daily for reflection and prayer.

Contacts:  Stan Shaffer 913.262.8483
Fr. John Spicer 816.523.1602

Youth Mission Trips

Mission trips specifically for teens are also available. In 2008, Episcopal teens went to the Mississippi Gulf coast in June to help with the ongoing recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina - a great opportunity for young people to live out their faith, see a new part of the country and build new relationships.

OutReach Commission members include:

Brian Egbert - Convener

Carol Williams - Commission Recorder/Vestry Liaison

Ann Renne - Comptroller

Fr. John Spicer – Spiritual Director

Gerry Barker

Cathy Corey

Julie Gilchrist

Margaret Heckendorn

Carolyn Kroh

Joy Krug

Richard Mosley

Nancy Parks

Kathy Shaffer

Stan Shaffer

Sally Stuart

Jeff Unger

Pete Vogt

Debby Walker