“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to
serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its
various forms.”
~1 Peter 4:10
St. Stephen’s has worked to serve others by promoting human growth, development, and dignity. We care for each other as Jesus has taught us by humbly serving the physical and spiritual needs of all God’s people.
This was a busy year for all of our Outreach Ministries!
We continued to offer our seasonal service projects including: Angel Giving Trees at Christmas, Blood Drives, Thanksgiving Dinner, Meals at the Men’s Shelter, Backpacks for the Homeless, and School Backpacks.
Volunteers put in over 450 hours to server approximately 4,800 meals at Terrific Tuesday Meals this past year!
Our St. Stephen’s Food Bank received generous donations of volunteer hours & food items allowing us to provide 4,120 Bags of food to 756 families this past year!
This year our Shoulder-To-Shoulder ministry, which offers a helping hand to fellow parishioners who are faced with unexpected financial difficulties, helped 15 parishioner families with just over $30,000.00 in financial aid.
Additionally, St. Stephen’s has a new Social & Human Concerns Commission! The purpose of this Commission is to assist the parish in the promotion and implementation of Catholic Social Teaching. The Commission assists the pastor “to foster works through which the spirit of the gospel is promoted, even that which pertains to social justice” (CIC, c.528 1).
This year we also started our St. Vincent DePaul Conference! Saint Vincent DePaul (SVDP) is a Catholic volunteer organization that leads individuals to join together to offer person-to-person service to the poor and the suffering. St. Stephen the Martyr volunteers make home visits to families living within the boundaries of our parish. Our SVDP Conference began in June 2014 and here is the aid they have distributed:
Helped 14 families with $2,750.83 in utilities assistance
Helped 5 families with $1,134.00 in rent assistance
Funding for the St. Stephen the Martyr Conference of St. Vincent de Paul comes from a portion of the funds collected from parishioner donations made through the blue Christian social action envelopes. The remaining half funds continue to be used for St. Stephen’s Outreach programs benefiting both our parishioners in need and those who live within our parish boundaries.
Funds Received from the social action envelopes:
$5,503.00 helped families with utilities $1,534.00 helped families with medical aid
$12,048.00 helped families with rental aid $1,910.00 provided gas and grocery aid
$454.00 provided emergency housing $1,204.00 provided aid to the homeless
$12,963.00 was used to purchase food for our food bank
St. Stephen’s also responded with generosity to aid those in need around the world:
$31,209 (the overage from our Spring 2014 Annual Catholic Appeal) will go to help Ugandan and Honduran orphans transition to self-sufficient Catholic-Christian adults
$21,063 was donated to Catholic Community Services in December 2013
$18,726.75 was donated to Typhoon Hayan Relief in the Philippians
$8,097.25 was donated to the Columbian Mission Totus Tuus
$3,729.00 was donated to Oso Mud Slide Relief
