Outreach: At Work in the Community and the World
Why outreach?
- Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God's help. - Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God's help.
Local
Sharing Joy with the Developmentally Challenged
We reach out to the residents of these YAI group homes for the developmentally challenged, including special Christmas activities.
LGBTQ and Others
At Christ Church and San Marcos we know you are a beloved child of God and are grateful to have you with us. We believe that in community, the light and love of God shine through us onto the world around us.
Christ Church and San Marcos is committed to justice. We intentionally include, honor, welcome, and celebrate the diversity of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation and gender identities, inviting everyone to be their authentic selves in our church at all levels of participation and leadership.
As much as possible, we hope, pray, and work to make church a safe space. This does not mean that we all agree, or that we see everything the same way. It does mean that your voice and presence are valuable. We encourage the formation of community through engaging in big—sometimes difficult—questions, yet our church community will never call into question the sacred worth of any person.
Food Pantry
The Community Food Pantry of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown started in Dec. 2009 as a holiday offering to 41 families. Organizers immediately saw that the need was much greater and more sustained than one special meal. Today the CFP provides a monthly distribution of healthy food to nearly 250 families, serving an estimate of 1000 individuals. Christ Church is honored to be able to host the Food Pantry by providing space for distribution and for storage. Our rector Susan Copley serves on the board and is an active participant in distributions. Community volunteers from all denominations and the schools make it happen. Businesses and local foundations also provide much needed funds – monthly expenditures are about $6000.
Here’s what some of the clients say about the Community Food Pantry:
I'm the only one in my family with a job. I started working at the Galleria two months ago, and I like it, but it's not enough. I have two children to feed. I like this place. The people are good.
I live at the YMCA. I don't get food stamps, just a little Social Security. At the end of the month I don't have any other food besides this.
This is my first time. I have Lupus, and I had no food at all for Thanksgiving. But I called Christ Church and they told me to come today. Now, I'm going to bring back some clothes to give out at the coat drive tonight. This is great! Thanks so much!
Individuals or corporations wishing to contribute or volunteer to the ongoing efforts of the Food Pantry can find more information at CommunityFoodPantrySHTT.org or contact Rachelle Gebler at ddgebler@yahoo.comClothing Closet
One of our San Marcos members (Margarita) identified a real need in the Tarrytown community; many people need to find clothes at low prices. So Margarita, with the help of members of both San Marcos and CC renovated a portion of the parish hall basement to create the 'Clothing Closet'; a space esily accessible from John St where each month donated clothes are sold. Each month there continues to be a steady stream of donations and each Friday these are sifted and hung up for sale by members of both San Marcos and CC communities. We enjoy doing this work together, both women and men, old and young. The clothing closet opened its doors on July 13th, 2013 and has every month since brought in several hundred dollars to the church. But the real benefit is to those who it serves - the people can get much needed clothes at affordable prices.Alcoholics Anonymous
Contact:Email
For more than two decades, Christ Church has provided a place for members of the Tarrytown Group of Alcoholics Anonymous to have fellowship. Well-attended meetings, held four days each week in our Ackerman Hall, allow A.A. members to attain and nurture the gift of sobriety. Welcoming all who come, especially newly-sober individuals, is a priority for the Tarrytown Group. The public can attend the Group’s monthly open meeting. The Group’s outreach activities include providing a weekly meeting for patients at the Substance Abuse Rehab at Phelps Hospital.
Christ Church values this ministry in which we provide a gathering place for a fellowship that emphasizes a daily commitment to spiritual growth, “conscious contact with God” through prayer and meditation, and being helpful to others. The Ackerman Hall A. A. schedule is:
Mondays: 6:45 p.m., Big Book meeting. 8 p.m., Step meeting.
Tuesdays: 7:30 a.m., Topic meeting.
Fridays: 6:45 p.m., Beginners meeting. On the last Friday of each month: Open Anniversary meeting.
Saturdays: 10 a.m., Women’s Step meeting.Worshipping with Seniors
Christ Church members share the joy of worship with the residents of TarryHall and Kendall on Hudson.
We also worship with many of those living at Crestview - this too is often very joyous.
Tarrytown Tunes
We welcome the informal music organization into our space each month as they bring outside musicians to Tarrytown to enrich all our lives.


Regional
Midnight Run
Midnight Run is a volunteer organization dedicated to finding common ground between the housed and the homeless.
Midnight Run coordinates over 1,000 relief missions per year, in which volunteers from churches, synagogues, schools and other civic groups distribute food, clothing, blankets and personal care items to the homeless poor on the streets of New York City. The late-night relief efforts create a forum for trust, sharing, understanding and affection. That human exchange, rather than the exchange of goods, is the essence of the Midnight Run mission.
Midnight Run is not a solution to homelessness. Our goal is to forge a bond between housed and homeless people by establishing a foundation of sharing and caring from which solutions may evolve. Through Midnight Run, volunteers come to see people on the streets as real people, not a commodity. And homeless men and women interact with mainstream adults and teenagers whose commitments and concerns go beyond their own lives and families.
Volunteer Testimonial
I really enjoyed attending the midnight runs. I helped out a couple times in high school and college, and was planning to get more involved this year before covid hit. I think I did go out on one run in 2019 or early 2020.
For me, the best part of the night is getting to chat with people and hear what they are going through. It always grounds me to hear people's stories, and I try to talk to people at every stop if I have time. I've listened to people explain the arduous process of seeking shelter and benefits, and the threats they face in homeless shelters that force them onto the streets. I spoke with a construction worker, as we both held cups of hot chocolate, who has travelled the country following jobs, but can't afford a place to stay in the city for the 2 months he was there, due to the high costs of housing. One man, an opera aficionado, broke into song during a stop. Some people are obviously mentally ill (like many of my family and friends) but unlike the people in my social circles, they cannot afford therapy and medicine. Pretty much everyone I met was generous, respectful and patient.
The level of solidarity between homeless people is incredible. I remember once, a lanky black man with a scruffy beard asked me if he could take extra clothes and food, for a friend. I said sure, and he grabbed so much that I asked if he needed help carrying it. Together, we walked 3 blocks away, to a young woman who was missing both her legs below the knees. She was sleeping on a long piece of thick cardboard on the stoop of a church, with other pieces of cardboard around her blocking the wind. The man gently woke her up, and offered her clothes and food, for which she was very grateful. She told me about her struggles getting healthcare, and having to sleep on the streets with a painful infection in her leg, during a cold NY winter. It was so cold that night that some of the volunteers struggled to stand outside during the 15 minute stops.
Every time I went to a midnight run, I left with a greater conviction that the capitalist system is a cruel, negligent sham. We choose to have a system where people are forced to sleep on pieces of cardboard on damp, cold, windy streets. We need to end homelessness, hunger and untreated illness, and the only real way to do this is through universal access to housing, food and healthcare. No woman, man or child (and there are many children) should be forced to sleep in the cold. This is not a blameless problem: the culprits of homelessness are the rich and powerful and the politicians who represent them. Like 5 year old kids, the wealthy of our country need to stop hoarding and learn how to share.
Midnight Run is an incredible program that benefits so many New Yorkers. I feel that the politics of homelessness is inseparable from the experiences of the homeless -- we cannot be angry at homelessness without also raging against the system that forces people into it. I hope stories like mine can help bring more volunteers to this incredible program!In non-Covid times: We meet at the Presbyterian Church, Irvington kitchen at 6:45 p.m. to help prepare about 125-150 sandwiches until about 8:30 p.m. Then, we move over to the next-door St. Barnabas Episcopal Church fellowship hall to pack food, snacks, beverage, personal items and clothing until 9, after which we pack the cars and travel down to designated stops in Manhattan, assigned by Midnight Run HQ. In NYC, we distribute food and clothing to the homeless people who come to meet us. We typically return around 1:00 a.m.
Teenagers figure prominently in this ministry with adults along to help out.
Please contact Lynne Shafer for more info.
A “Midnight Run” box is in the narthex for much appreciated donations. Please save and donate travel-size toiletry items and/or dark-color backpacks or carry bags to our Midnight Run.Global
Cristosal - El Salvador
Contact:Email
We actively support the work of Cristosal in Central America, which addresses humanitarian crises of violence and forced displacement. We do this through direct charitable contributions, funding grants, parishioner travel to El Salvador to learn Cristosal’s methodology, and our own advocacy group here in Westchester. To learn more about Cristosal, click www.cristosal.org
Our Cristosal ministry has developed various creative ways of involving the broader local community to raise awareness and funding, such as The Bridge of Hope mural, Hope Is In Our Hands banner, and presentations at events such as our Chili Cook-off dinner/contest.
Recently we have increased outreach and involvement with local refugee children who are victims of the crisis that Cristosal is fighting to eliminate. These children attend San Marcos services and are invited to share in food, fellowship, games and craft activities. Members of our parish join in to welcome them and help give them a sense of trust and belonging.
Puppets tell How to Help Cristosal
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(and get free pickles)