Here is our weekly collection plate of a few of the good things that Episcopalians and their congregations have done that made the news this past week. And other news fit to print.
One afternoon when we were given some free time, I pulled out a plastic chair and sat at the edge of the cathedral compound with my sketch book and pencils and began to draw one of the houses called tukals. As I struggled with rusty drawing skills a man came up to me, knelt down and admired the half-finished picture. Then he turned to me and said, “Will you come and teach our children?” (h/t to Lisa Fox at My Manner of Life
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Mural brightens family emergency center.
Armed with acrylic paint, brushes and enthusiasm, volunteers have been working for the past three weeks on a mural that will brighten the Family Emergency Center in San Rafael’s Canal area. The project, a collaboration between St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ross and the center, is aimed at bringing together young volunteers from the community to decorate a run-down area of the center, said Paul Fordham, development director for Homeward Bound, which manages the center
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The church (St.Luke’s, Bethesda, MD) has partnered with St. Luke’s House, an adjacent mental health rehabilitation center and residential facility founded by church members. The church donates much of the harvest to the house for healthful-cooking classes. Jackie Shipp, manager of administration at St. Luke’s House, said the vegetables not only help provide meals but also supply no-cost learning opportunities for the residents. Elaine Byergo, manager of life-skills programs at St. Luke’s House, said the garden has served as encouragement for those who live in the house because of the “spirit of planting, then harvesting, and teaching people.”
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Cleveland cathedral receives garden grant
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral’s (Cleveland, OH) Charlie Comella Community Garden was chosen from more than 1,000 applicants to receive one of 20 $2,500 grants awarded in the United States and Canada by Fiskars Project Orange Thumb in 2009. “We’re thrilled to be honored by Fiskars with this prestigious award,” said Scott Blanchard, the garden’s leader. “We’re proud to be a partner in making Cleveland’s neighborhoods more beautiful and, through community involvement, making Cleveland a better place to live.”
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