August-September 2022 Vineyard

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coming together with our community ESSE update There’s great news with ESSE! We have our Letter Of Agreement fully executed and can now move forward with getting everything in place for ESSE to start their Adult Day Service. Over the next few weeks, they will begin bringing in supplies, setting up their office, and moving the furnishings in. Hiring has already started, with the site manager and nurse already in place. As you have seen in our Friday emails, they are also looking for activity assistants. They have just received approval for a Federal Grant that will pay the salary of low-income, new hires who are 60 and older. Two of their current clients are already eager to attend the new St. Mark’s location, and activity is now planned to announce the opening to the press and online. We are working with them to contact local Chambers and Associations, such as Lions and Kiwanis. Grant applications have been submitted and more are planned. They also may be able to qualify for Aurora Township Senior Services financial support to help pay for transportation of their clients when needed. Lots of work yet to do, but it is all coming together for an October opening! St. Mark’s and Dominican Literacy Center in the news! Our partnership was featured in several publications! Check them out! Daily Herald Rockford Archdiocese Last spring, our Outreach team introduced St. Mark’s to a new Outreach Partner, the Dominican Literacy Center (DLC), and we kicked off our partnership with a one-time donation of $10,000. This directly enriches the lives of women who are able to have positive impacts on their families and communities because they have learned to read and write English at the DLC. St. Mark’s has since partnered with the DLC in many small but meaningful ways. Several members baked cakes for the DLC graduation in the spring, and St. Mark’s showed overwhelming support of the DLC Lou Malnati’s pizzanight fundraiser. With donations from St. Mark’s members, Sue Hildebrand bought flowers to place in decorative pots to brighten the Center’s entrance. This Fall, we are planning to open our doors for the DLC volunteer luncheon. In addition, the DLC has invited St. Mark’s member Lynnette Brent to serve on their board, which will strengthen the bond between us as we identify new opportunities for St. Mark’s members to get involved. School supplies for McCleery Want to help a McCleery student get a good start to the new year? They need school supplies! Over the next few weeks, we’re collecting school supplies to deliver to McCleery in early September. Always on the list are pencils, erasers, crayons, glue sticks, washable markers, wide-ruled spiral notebooks and, especially, black dry-erase markers. For a complete list of what’s needed, CLICK HERE or pick up a copy of the list at the Welcome Center. You can bring your supplies to a special McCleery table in the narthex. McCleery also has told us about a need for headphones to replace lost and broken ones as the year progresses. (First through third graders use overthe-ear headphones while the higher grades use ear buds.) They need about 50 over the course of the year, and we’ll be using any funds donated to McCleery in honor of Pr. Patrick to purchase these headphones. We’ll let you know how much we raised and update you on what more we can do. Look for information about the Dominican Literacy Center at the Welcome Center. If you want to get involved, please contact Lynnette Brent. 8
coming together with our community “God’s Work, Our Hands” day Saturday, Sept 10 Every September, ELCA congregations across the U.S. participate in an initiative called “God’s Work, Our Hands.” It’s a day set aside to engage in service to the community and to remember that we are the Church for the sake of the world. Hesed House tour, 5 to 6 p.m. Many of us have been hearing about and faithfully giving to Hesed House, but many of us have never been inside the building to see what great stuff happens there! Come, see for yourself. We’ll be carpooling from St. Mark’s the afternoon of September 10th to tour the facility and learn about the need and their programs. Sign up at the Welcome Center if you’d like to take the tour and meet at the church parking lot at 4:30 p.m. Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry Thank you! “We just wrapped up our fiscal year! From August 1, 2021 - July 31, 2022, we distributed 3,034,138 lbs of food to our community! We could not have achieved this without the support from our amazing community, volunteers, staff and board! THANK YOU for helping us!”—The Food Pantry Kids’ Pop-Up The Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry is hosting a Kids’ Pop-Up in the St. Mark’s parking lot, on Saturday, September 10, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The pantry has reached out to us for help setting up. If you would like to volunteer, please reach out to Joni Ackley at the church office, at 630-897-6891, or by email at office@ stmarksaurora.net. Harvesting Hope As part of the tour, we’ll also be learning about Harvesting Hope, an award-winning program dedicated to increasing the behavioral and social skills of homeless children. Find out what a difference volunteers spending time with homeless children in play and crafts on a Thursday evening (6:30 to 8 p.m.) can make, and how you can help! PADS dinner, 6 to 9 p.m. On Saturday night, we’ll be serving a picnic supper for the PADS residents. This is a great opportunity to join in if you haven’t done this before. You can: • make Sloppy Joes ahead of time • donate prepared foods, such cheese, potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, and fruit • donate non-perishable items, such as detergent and coffee • help serve food and clean up at Hesed House on Saturday Spending time with a homeless child in play, making crafts, and laughing can make a huge difference in their lives! No special skills needed—just the capacity to care. To find out more, contact Gena Gerdin. Sign up online or at the Welcome Center to help serve or donate items. You can pick up a list of what’s needed at the Welcome Center. We hope to see you on God’s Work, Our Hand’s Day! 9
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August-September 2022 Vineyard

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