St. Matthews Episcopal Church

Episcopal Church in Snellville, GA

 “Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them; I will offer thanks to the Lord..” Psalm 119:19

A Huge Thank You From the Knit, Crochet & Pray Ministry

The Knit, Crochet, Pray Ministry (KCP) at St. Matthew’s thanks all people who donated money, yarn, hats, scarves, gloves or mittens to our drive for Rosebud Episcopal Mission in Mission, SD.  From this particular donation (starting our 2022 contribution), we mailed 36 hats/scarves/gloves sets, 17 hats/gloves sets, 24 extra pairs of gloves, and one pair of socks. These items were mailed last week when the temperatures were from -12-6 degrees F. The Rosebud Lakota Reservation has over 4,000 children between the ages of 4-18 years. Hence, you understand why this project is ongoing for KCP, even though our biggest collections are in the winter.

We also appreciate your donations for prayer shawls (which go to parishioners or their family/friends in need of support because of illness, death, other hardships) and/or chemo caps (which go to the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Hospital) and/or hats and scarves for the local homeless.

Last year, KCP donated the following items, thanks to your support.

Prayer Shawls given – 89

Chemo caps – 72

Rosebud Reservation:
63 hat, scarf, gloves/mitten sets
32 hat, scarf sets
13 hats
5 scarves
10 pairs of gloves
1 pair of socks
4 headbands
Clean, but gently used:
10 hat, scarf, glove sets
5 scarves
5 pairs of gloves
4 headbands

Homeless at the Church of the Common Ground
30 hat/scarf sets
Box of flat flashlights

We are so grateful for your help, and we hope you will consider assisting us in the future.

Thanks and Prayers,

Beth DiGiovanni



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Tenth Annual St. Matthew’s Car Show WrapUp

Our 10th Annual St. Matthews Car Show turned out to be a great success this year.  Some of the best vintage classic cars, trucks and motorcycles in Georgia were in attendance to the tune of over ninety cars.  We had a fantastic Silent Auction with over 30 items and we had bidders on every single one of them.  We had several new arts and craft vendors and, last but not least, we had Tipsy Pig who brought us great ribs, chicken, and barbeque.

Family Promise of Gwinnett County, who works to help homeless families in the area, was the recipient of a whopping $20,000 donation. We couldn’t have done it without our sponsorships, our volunteers, our Bake Sale, Knit Pearl and Pray, our Kids Zone, the car registrations, vendor fees and the monies raised from our silent auction.  Plus Bishop Rob was here with us to pick the Bishop’s Choice trophy recipient and stayed with us through the trophy presentations.

A great big Thank you to all that helped to make this show such a great Outreach and Fellowship event.  The Car Show Committee, our volunteers, all of our sponsors, those who supported us with your prayers and encouragement and all of St. Matthews , we thank you all!!

Check out the photos here! 



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Volunteers Needed — SE Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry

The National Guard soldiers who have been assisting at the Co-Op since the beginning of COVID, have been  recalled, and there is a dire need for more volunteers to help ensure the continued smooth process of food distribution to the clients. Anyone interested please contact Dot Desjardin at ddesjardin@segwinnettcoop.org

Volunteer Skills Needed:
• Able to easily lift 20 lb box
• Ability to stand and walk on concrete floor for long periods of time
• Willing to take and follow directions from team leads and CoOp management
• Set up Canopy Tents and 6-8ft tables outside
• Easily work both indoors and outdoors as needed

Special Volunteer Skills
• Able to use a pallet jack to help unload and safely move pallets of food

Pantry Shift Hours:
• Mondays 1st shift: 9am-1pm 2nd Shift: 2pm – 7pm
• Tuesdays and Thursdays: 9am – 12n
• Wednesdays and Fridays: 8:30am – 12n
• Saturdays: 10am -12n
All volunteers must:
• Wear closed toed shoes
• Masks are required for unvaccinated volunteers and anyone preferring to wear one

To see other current outreach needs and area resources, please visit our Outreach page.



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Knit Crochet and Pray Items Help Rosebud Episcopal Mission and Local Needs

2/12/2021 UPDATE!
Thanks to the generosity of St. Matthew’s parishioners and the work of Knit Crochet & Pray members, we are mailing four boxes to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota with the following in the shipment:
23 sets of hats/scarves/gloves
31 sets of hats/scarves
13 extra hats
5 extra pairs of gloves/mittens
1 pair of socks.
Their temperatures were actually minus35 degrees last week and a wind chill of -35 this week!
36 sets of hats and scarves and a box of flat plastic flashlights twill go to the homeless at the Church of the Common Ground.
KCP continues to work on more mittens, scarves and hats for Rosebud, as well as chemo caps for chemo patients in the Atlanta area. Thank you for generosity, and thank you, KCP! If you are interested in helping with this active group’s efforts, please contact Beth DIGiovanni.

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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Outreach Project — SE Gwinnett Co-Op’s Winter Wonder

Co-Op’s Winter Wonder 2020 Christmas Assistance Program

Once again the Southeast Gwinnett Food Co-Op is offering gift cards as their Christmas assistance program to eligible clients who have minor children living in their household. This small offering will help the heads of house–holds care for their children’s needs and remind them that they have friends walking alongside of them.

You are invited to make a donation in the form of a $25 Walmart gift card. Gift cards can be placed in the special collection container before or after all Sunday’s outside services, dropped off at the church parking lot on Saturday afternoons 10/24,10/31,11/7 and 11/14 from 12-2pm or given to Jennifer Papadatos, Cheryl Wheeler, Greg Andrews or Dotty Merrifield. All donations must be submitted by November 16th.



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Outreach Project – St. Matthew’s Preschool Supply Drive

OUTREACH — PRESCHOOL DONATION DRIVE
Final Week wraps up!
We are excited to be welcoming children back to St. Matthew’s Preschool and Kindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year!
October 3rd-October 31st the Outreach Committee will be collecting supplies for St. Matthew’s Preschool and Kindergarten. Donations can be left in the donation bin found at the back covered entrance to the church (handicapped entrance) starting October 3rd. If your donation is too large for the bin please contact Jennifer or Juanita to arrange for drop off. Please avoid dropping off items during preschool carpool times (9:30am-10:00am and 1:30pm-2:00pm).
If you wish to ship items directly to the preschool, send to:
St. Matthew’s Preschool
1520 Oak Rd.
Snellville, GA 30078
To learn more about our wonderful St. Matthew’s Preschool, click here.



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May Food Drive Wrap Up

The May Food Drive for the Southeast Gwinnett Co-Op wrapped up last Saturday and the numbers are in! With 5 Saturday drop off days and cash donations through the co-op and the Outreach Committee, the food drive provided more than 5,300 items for neighbors in need during this difficult time, smashing our goal of 5,000 items!

The Outreach Committee would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who was able to participate, including dropping off items, volunteering to collect on Saturday mornings, and donating so that we could purchase the most urgent items the co-op requested. It was so wonderful to come together, to see familiar faces, and to see all the love and support the St. Matthew’s parish has for our community.

Stay tuned for news on more ways to help this summer!

If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. – Isaiah 58:10

For photos from the Saturday collections and deliveries to the co-op, please check them out on out our Facebook page.



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Final Week For May Food Drive Collections!

We look forward to seeing everyone dropping off donations this Saturday May 30, from 9-11 a.m.  All items go immediately to the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry. Thank you for your generosity–It’s the People!
Most needed items this week include: Diced tomatoes (canned), Pasta Sauce, Canned Pasta, (Ravioli, SpaghettiOs etc.), Toothpaste, Bar Soap, Toilet Paper



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May Food Drive Update — We’re Halfway There!

With 2 weeks left in the May Food Drive we are currently just over halfway to our goal of 5,000 items donated to the Co-Op! So far, through food and cash donations, 2,551 items have been received by the co-op and the Outreach Committee has an additional $1,127 from donations to purchase high need items.

We look forward to seeing everyone dropping off donations this Saturday from 9:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m.

Most needed items this week include: Canned tuna, Macaroni and Cheese, Canned Pasta (Ravioli, SpaghettiOs), Pasta Sauce, Toothpaste, Bar Soap, Diapers (size 2,3,4), Baby Wipes

If you can’t make it to drop off food on Saturdays, you can:
If you have any questions please contact Jennifer Papadatos at jenniday1229@yahoo.com Thank you!

Check out all the photos from the food drive–it’s the People!!



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Youth Outing — Souper Bowl of Caring Event February 2

February 2nd, Super Bowl Sunday, the Youth Group is gathering at Sparkles Family Fun Center, from 2 pm to 4 pm for an afternoon of fun, excitement, and entertainment. The purpose of the outing, besides enjoyment, is that of tackling hunger. This year, we are joining with the Souper Bowl of Caring; a national movement that empowers youth by “transforming the Big Game into a nation-wide movement inspiring people to give locally and make a collective impact on hunger” within our community.
Cost is either $10 or $20 per-person. The $10 level includes entrance fee, pizza & drink, while the $20 level includes, entrance fee, skating, 2 laser tag games, pizza & drink. Along with the cost we are asking that each person bring at least two (2) cans or bags of canned fruit, canned chicken, dry beans, grits, or spaghetti to support the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministries.
Sparkles Family Fun Center is located at 1104 Grayson Hwy. Lawrenceville, GA. 30045.
If you would like to car-pool or shuttle, we will be meeting at the church at 1:20 pm.
If you have any questions, please contact Fr. Tommy.



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At St. Matthew’s, our MISSION is to continue the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, by serving the greater community through loving its children, caring for the unfortunate and witnessing to the healing power of God’s love.