Original Post: Help St. Matt’s Knit, Crochet, Pray Ministry With January Giving

We would like to invite you to help the children on Rosebud and our local homeless at the Church of the Common Ground to stay warm this winter. During the month of January we are asking for contributions of clean used sweaters and/or fleece and/or warm yarn. These items may be dropped off at church in the plastic bin (with a KCP sign on it) in the back of the church by the bench. The KCP members will make mittens from the sweaters and fleece and hats/scarves from the yarn. The KCP has made the work for Rosebud one of its continuous projects.

Rosebud Episcopal Mission was established in 1889 for the Lakota Tribe in South Dakota.  According to the 2017 census the population was 11, 354 with over 4,000 children now between the ages of 4-18 years (Mother Lauren Stanley,2020), and it covers an area of 1,970.362 square miles. The 2017 census reported 39.7% of the residents had incomes below the poverty level. It is divided into the Mission East under Rev. Anne Henninger with four churches and the Mission West under Rev. Dr. Lauren Stanley, Superintending Presbyter, with eight churches.

Our church found out about Rosebud when our postulate at the time, Nancee Cekuta (now Reverend Nancee at Holy Trinity in Fayetteville, NC), was assigned by our diocese to work there one summer. She came back telling us of the great needs on the reservation, especially for children waiting for buses  in extreme cold. Since that time, our church, led by the St. Matthew’s Knit, Crochet, and Pray Ministry (KCP), has collected and made donations of hats, scarves, and gloves for the school-aged children (ages 4-18 years) on the Rosebud Reservation. South Dakota and Rosebud have been hard hit by COVID-19; Mother Lauren is recovering from her second COVID-19 case.

Thank you so much for helping those in need.

From Mother Lauren at Rosebud Episcopal Mission

To: Beth DiGiovanni, Knit, Crochet and Pray
Date: 12/30/2020 8:09 PM

Subject: All of the knitted items have gone out and we had a blast giving them out!!!

Oh, Beth, this has been SOOOO fun this year. We put the hats, scarves and gloves in the stockings that we gave out via the GLORY program, and then gave more to the White Buffalo Calf Woman’s Society (the domestic violence and sexual abuse shelter for women and their families).
And everyone was overjoyed!!!!

WIth COVID, we haven’t been able to gather our children … so we went to them instead and delivered to parents and grandparents, so the kids could open the gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas.

I’m attaching one photo … because it’s just so darned cute! Little one wore it all night, and all the next day!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! All y’all really helped make Christmas in a really weird year seem so much more normal for our children!

Blessings and peace,
Lauren

The Rev. Dr. Lauren R. Stanley
Superintending Presbyter, Rosebud Episcopal Mission (West)

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This year, May is the month in which St. Matthew’s will focus on collecting special items for the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministries.

The Co-op asked we collect Shampoo, 1 lb bags of white or brown rice, Canned chicken, and Canned pineapple

The pineapple is always in high demand and just seems to fly off the shelves.

The Outreach Committee will be handing out bags with attached food list after both services, so please fill the bag and return to the barrel outside of the Parish Hall.

Volunteer Opportunity: This year, all the food we collect during our special May food drive will be delivered to the Co-op all at once, on Saturday morning, June 1st. We would like volunteers to help bring the food over, stay and help sort the food and then take the opportunity to tour the facility. This is a great opportunity to see where and how your donations are used and what an impact St Matthew’s Church has.

Summer Manna/Fun Under the Big Top at the Co-op

Families with school aged children often experience food insecurity during the summer months due to the suspension of school breakfast and lunch programs. The Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry assists these families by allowing them to visit the Co-op twice during the summer months. These extra visits put a huge burden on the volunteers who work in the Pantry. St. Matthew’s has agreed to assist by providing volunteers to work alongside the regular Pantry volunteers on May 29th and May 31st. There is a sign-up sheet posted on the Outreach bulletin board. In the Pantry, youth volunteers must be Middle School Age (with a parent/guardian) or High School Age (solo/no parent). ALL Pantry volunteers MUST WEAR closed toed shoes…. NO sandals.

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