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Mission and Outreach Activities
Involvement in our Community and the World News:
The Session calls for more attention on national and world poverty Our many mission programs touch people locally and around the world by supporting local, international, ecumenical, and inter-faith causes. The Mission/Community Committee identifies, supports, and coordinates such projects; it encourages volunteers to become involved in such activities; and it is responsible for the distribution of the Mission portion of our congregation’s annual budget. An overview of some of the activities sponsored by the Committee is highlighted below.
Improving Housing:
Improving housing in our community is a priority for us. Working with Habitat for Humanity in Buffalo, North Church volunteers work on Saturdays and weekdays to help build new houses and/or renovate existing structures. During a week every summer, many church members participate in a local work project with Habitat.
Also, North Church has been involved in providing housing assistance outside of the Western New York area. For example, in 1999 a group of individuals from North Church traveled to Honduras to help Habitat for Humanity build much-needed housing. Moreover, two members of our congregation regularly serve in many parts of the U.S. as work-project supervisors for Habitat for Humanity. Most recently, another group is planning a trip to the U.S. Gulf Coast to assist in the post-Katrina rebuilding efforts.
Feeding the Hungry:
Feeding the hungry is another priority that we work on through a variety of activities. A group of North Church volunteers cooks and serves dinner at Friends of Night People in Buffalo once a month. Another team delivers Meals on Wheels, while others provide non-perishable food for the University Presbyterian Church Food Pantry.
Assisting Refugees:
In addition, we have for many, many years been involved in ministry to international refugees by aiding those who are short-term visitors as well as by helping families that have been approved by the U.S. Department of State for permanent resettlement in the U.S. Refugee families that we have resettled in the past two decades have been Vietnamese, Cambodian, Ethiopian, Ukrainian, Russian-Armenian, and Bosnian. For example, in 2000, North Church sponsored a refugee family (woman and two adopted daughters) from Sierra Leone and a family (husband, wife, and nine-year old daughter) that had fled Sudan. Moreover, in the summer of 2003, North Church responded to an urgent need from VIVE La Casa--a local shelter for international refugees--to house, feed, and provide legal and transportation services to several families from Latin America that were awaiting legal entry into Canada. In the process of providing this assistance, North Church converted some of its classroom facilities into living quarters, made its kitchen available to these families, and provided food and family support throughout the summer.
Below is a list of the agencies that North Church is currently supporting through financial assistance and/or volunteer service:
 The Mission Committee |
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