2022 was a busy year for Outreach as we met the various needs of our community. Our Daily Bread continued every  Tuesday from 12pm-1pm as we served between 80-110 meals per week to our community. We have an incredible  volunteer base of over 50 parishioners and starting this coming week, we will transition from solely serving hot grab-and go meals to an indoor seating option. Jeff and Cyndi Smith, Tee and Christina Teague, and Steve Tharp lead our weekly  volunteers as head chefs, supported by preparation cooks and serving volunteers. We also continue to have a thriving  baking ministry. Volunteers bake individually bagged homemade desserts each week for our guests. This ministry is also  supported by The Village School families. Malan Jackson, a Graduate Fellow, has been an integral part of the Our Daily  Bread leadership team, and I am very grateful for her help and support! 

May was a big month in Outreach. Several volunteers participated on a Habitat Build Day. We caulked and painted,  supporting the Habitat staff in ways needed. Three build days are scheduled for 2023 so please keep your eye to the Christ  Church Weekly for details in the coming months! 

We also partnered with Trinity Episcopal to facilitate an 8-week course called Sacred Land. The Rev. Kristan Pitts, Bread  and Roses Coordinator, and I facilitated this course as we made the theological connection between faith and food justice.  Through various readings, videos and discussion, we learned how food and farming practices affect the climate crisis,  marginalized communities and our well-being. Kristan and I will be co-facilitating another 8-week course beginning in  February. The course, Hunger, a Faith and Justice Response, will look at food insecurity, nutrition and other related  topics. If you are interested in the course, please contact me! 

We also began a vegetable, flower and prayer garden behind the Magruder House. With seven raised beds, we grew  tomatoes, summer squash, green beans, cucumbers, zinnias, and sunflowers as well as a variety of native plants. We  partnered with The Haven, our local homeless shelter, and on Tuesdays from 12pm-1pm we had a shared give-away of  produce and bouquets at The Garage for both our soup kitchen guests and all community members. Beginning in early  Fall and continuing through the warmer days, we also began a very short prayer service in the garden on Tuesday  mornings for Charlottesville and surrounding communities. I hope to expand our garden ministry in 2023 as well as our  community prayer service.  

Lastly, the Fall brought a monthly community drive, and we had extraordinary generosity and participation by  parishioners during these drives! In September we held a gift card and diaper drive for Stepping Stone, an organization  providing needs for under resourced families and children across Charlottesville and Albemarle County. In October, we  collected new socks in all sizes for Cville Sock Love, an organization devoted to delivering socks to hospitalized children  in Central Virginia, and our under-resourced neighbors. In November, we collected sleeping bags for The Haven to help  members of our homeless community endure the cold winter months outdoors. In December, we held a Christmas and  house supplies “wish list” drive for Georgia’s Friends’ House, a therapeutic and structured home to help women suffering  from drug addiction and co-occurring mental health challenges We will continue these drives for various community  organizations as we travel into 2023!  

We all need each other, and everyone’s extraordinary dedication to help us with all our outreach efforts has been  incredible. Thank you!