Dan Currier
residents remain. As Janie Satterfield said, “We may not be able to see the residents face to face, but we know what they like and what they can and cannot eat. We are trying to make sure residents know we care.”
Diana Vasquez (standing) with a ReWork member
F
or decades, St. Stephen’s than we expected that food Church has taken to pantry volunteers packed 15 heart the legacy of extra bags during their shift. our patron saint, Stephen, who during the early church FeedMore has been a key exercised a diaconal ministry, partner in our ability to having been appointed by the respond. Because we have apostles to provide for the needs By Erin Townsend been declared an emergency relief of the “least of these.” In recent pantry during the pandemic, years, our outreach ministries have grown St. Stephen’s volunteers and staff go in breadth and depth, with more and to FeedMore at least once a week for more parishioners engaging in this work. supplemental food—some of it is provided free, some at a very low cost. Many of the “hands on” outreach Stan Barnett, our coordinator of kitchen ministries of our parish have necessarily ministries, and the May Fair House, had to be revamped or even suspended have been providing the food pantry temporarily during the pandemic, to with a delicious assortment of items assure the safety of all. We continue to seek for our clients. Stan has been making ways to minister to all who seek our help. hearty soups to distribute, made possible because of generous donations from our FOOD MINISTRIES congregation to food ministries. While the client choice (grocery store) model we’ve used in our food pantry has Our fruit ministry is going strong, too. had to revert to the former pattern of pre- Each week we serve about 135 people packing bags of food and pursuing new with bags of fresh fruit. Recipients are avenues for reaching the people who need residents of public housing developments it, our food ministry continues to grow. in the downtown Richmond area. This Throughout the pandemic—which has ministry—the longest continuous local had economic as well as health effects— outreach ministry at St. Stephen’s— we have seen more and more people each has had to adjust its distribution week. On a Monday in late August, for model during the pandemic, but the example, so many more people arrived relationships between the volunteers and
Our relationship with Virginia Supportive Housing continues to grow; it combines affordable housing and case management services. Every two weeks, we deliver 145 bags of groceries for this organization, serving roughly 260-270 people. All of these efforts are made possible by generous donations from members of the parish and community, and visitors to our farmers market. The symbol of this generosity is the grocery cart that sits outside the entrance to the parish house. Staff member Larry Bidwell monitors the cart, and brings the food donations into the pantry periodically. He is amazed by this experience: “Every time I empty it, I turn around and it’s full again!” We thank you for your generous and ongoing support of this ministry. EAST END PARTNERSHIPS Different approaches to a new academic year are affecting our work in the East End. Like all Richmond Public Schools, Fairfield Court Elementary School is using an all-virtual model this year. This means we are not able to send mentors, tutors, classroom assistants or lunch buddies to the school. We did hold our annual school supply drive for Fairfield, assembling individual kits for students. Thanks to all who donated so generously. Suzy Blevins, the site coordinator for Communities in Schools at Fairfield Court Elementary School, said, “St. Stephen’s is awesome! Thank you for all you do for our students and community.”
Outreach may look different, but it’s more vital and important than ever 12
SEASONS OF THE SPIRIT
