Christmas Appeal for 2023
This year, in addition to your Christmas gifts to support the ministry of the congregation, we invite you to support our Christmas appeal for the support of the Kenora Fellowship Centre, The Community Laundry Coop in Ottawa and the Marco Depestre Foundation as well as our Refugee Resettlement endeavors. More information on each of these is found below.
Tax receipts will be issued at year-end for gifts of $20 or more. Gifts can be made:
· via electronic transfer from your bank account using Interac e-transfer. Please use the e-mail address donations@standrewsottawa.ca. No password is needed as the funds are automatically deposited into the Church’s bank account and the office is informed of your donation for tax receipt purposes. Please include your envelope number in the message box.
· by mail to St. Andrew’s Church at 82 Kent Street, Ottawa ON K1P5N9. Please do not mail cash.
The Community Laundry Coop in Ottawa
Founded in 1999, the Community Laundry Co-op (CLC) is a grassroots charitable co-operative that provides accessible and affordable self-service laundry for low-income and isolated families and individuals and serves as a valuable support network for its members – many of whom struggle with mental health issues, addictions and developmental and/or physical disabilities. The Co-op also provides training and mentoring through its Contract Laundry Service social enterprise which offers laundry and delivery services to local clients at competitive rates, providing further opportunities for members to gain work experience, develop their skills and supplement their income.
Approximately 75% of Co-op members rely on government programs for income; 99% are living in poverty. The Co-op reaches out to recent immigrants and provides a non-threatening environment to practice English and access the support of a broader community. As an integral part of its program, the Co-op provides formal counselling to an average of 90 members per month as well as information, referrals and social support to more than 40 people on a drop-in basis.
To learn more about The Community Laundry Co-op in Ottawa, please click here communitylaundrycoop.ca
The Kenora Fellowship Centre:
Kenora Fellowship Centre offers a drop in ministry and programming for a mostly Indigenous Community in Northwestern Ontario.
In 2019 a delegation of about 30 Presbyterians from Ontario, with a few from BC and Taiwan, made a trip to the residential schools/sites in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario as part of the Truth and Reconciliation ( TRC) tour to convey our apology for the events that transpired at those schools. The Kenora Fellowship Center is near to the Cecilia Jefferies school site. While at the centre we met the director, Yvonne Bearbull, shared fellowship with the staff and their clients and helped carry out some simple maintenance tasks.
Today the Kenora Fellowship Center serves approximately 110 homeless people who cannot find shelter elsewhere. The news this year of unmarked burial sites at numerous Residential school sites, it has negatively impacted many in the group. The reality of being homeless is particularly difficult as winter approaches and with it Christmas. The outdoor prayer and sacred fire provided by the Centre are part of the relief it offers and held several times in the month of December. The cost of providing these events along with some food and wellness packs is approximately $2500. The memorial and advent candle lighting is also part of these events.
Our donations help with these and many other activities that the centre hosts and supports. To learn more about the Kenora Fellowship Centre, you can go to fellowshipcentre.wixsite.com/kenora
The Marco Depestre Foundation for relief in Haiti:
St. Andrew’s has supported the Marco Depestre Foundation of Ottawa’s work in Haiti for over ten years now. In the last year poverty levels have worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic, gang violence and the recent earthquake. Projects that our support of the Marco Depestre Foundation of Ottawa help make possible include:
o Agroforestry in Vialet and Furcy: Replanting and land restoration.
o Humanitarian Aid: Emergency relief following the 7.25 magnitude earthquake that hit the southern part of the country on August 14, 2021. This requires building reconstruction and infrastructure.
o Child Sponsorship: 9 of the 51 children are supported by St. Andrew’s members.
o Fondoux Goat Project: The goat kids are passed on to other families providing them with food and sustenance. A clinic was held in late spring where medication was provided for goats with ailments.
o Christmas meals: Because of insecurity, the plan is to distribute dry food kits this year.
Your ongoing support makes an enormous difference in the lives of the beneficiaries. For more information please go to www.marcodepestrefoundationofottawa.org.