St. Andrews United Church congregation and outreach committee donated many items needed by the John Howard Society.
Lynann Pethick, chair of the St. Andrew’s United Church outreach committee, told MooseJawToday.com that the committee organizes Christmas donations every year. Among others, they donate to the Moose Jaw and District Food Bank, Hunger in Moose Jaw, and Phoenix Academy.
Because of a close relationship between St. Andrew’s and John Howard Society (JHS), they were able to hear about some of the greatest needs of people struggling with homelessness during this holiday season.
“(Jody Oakes, JHS Moose Jaw branch manager) was talking about all the things that were needed, and saying that she wasn’t sure what she was going to do,” Pethick explained. “So we just put a box in the church and people, every Sunday for the last six weeks, they’ve just been bringing things… It’s pretty phenomenal, let me tell you.”
One of the things JHS needed most, Pethick said, was toothbrushes and toothpaste. Members of the St. Andrew’s congregation picked up items throughout their week and brought them on Sunday to contribute to the donation box.
Other items in need were hygiene products, dry foods such as puddings, and snack bars.
“I think it was a wonderful thing that the church did gathering up all that stuff,” Reverend Tenford said. “And I hope that we can continue to partner with John Howard. They do some really wonderful work.”
Tenford added that the contributions were a combined effort from everyone at St. Andrew’s and that the outreach committee and the congregation deserved credit for their generosity.
Jody Oakes told MooseJawToday.com that receiving the boxes of donations from St. Andrew’s was amazing and incredibly helpful. JHS Moose Jaw has a program called My Place which specifically works to advocate for and help people struggling with homelessness. Since the program started, Oakes said, the community of Moose Jaw have been overwhelmingly generous.
“We help people who have nothing, and who aren’t used to receiving anything,” Oakes said. “This is a population that isn’t often used to kindness. They struggle, you know? They struggle with a lot of different things, with mental illness, with substance abuse. Most of them are alone, they don’t have families or anyone to care about them.
“To see their smiles and hear their appreciation for what people give, it’s just amazing.”
One of the other annual efforts of the St. Andrew’s outreach committee has been their “Mitten Tree.”
The Mitten Tree is a Christmas tree that is set up at the beginning of the season. Lynann Pethick said that the great majority of items contributed to the tree are handmade. By the time they are ready to be gathered up and given to local schools, the tree is weighed down with dozens of toques, mittens, and scarves.
This year the mitten tree items were donated to Prince Arthur and Westmount schools.
