From the Mission Commission
Are you looking for opportunities to help our neighbors? Rooted in a commitment to active partnership and advocacy, the FPCY Mission Commission provides several ways to address hunger in our community and beyond, and to broaden our understanding of our neighbors who suffer from food insecurity. Through the FPCY Pantry, the monthly Jan Peek Meal, Noontime Meal, Garden of Hope, Advocacy Letter writing and Mission Trips, you can select an option that works with your schedule. Some of these are outlined below, but you can always check out the Mission Commission’s new bulletin board on the corner of the hall that separates Fellowship Hall from the Gathering Space. If you are interested in guiding our Mission activities, please talk to our co-chairs Lynn Edling or Jeff Kephart to learn more about what we do. Whether or not you join us formally, you are welcome to attend our monthly meetings, which take place at 7:30pm on the third Tuesday of each month in the church library.
Please join us in making a difference!
~Jeff Kephart and Lynn Edling, Co-chairs, FPCY Mission Commission
The Noontime Meal program is run by the Salvation Army in Peekskill to provide a warm meal every workday afternoon for people in need (~120 people). FPCY is responsible for the second Wednesday of each month. Each month one person orders food from the ShopRite in Cortlandt, picks it up, and delivers it to Salvation Army headquarters in Peekskill. The whole process takes ~1 hour but makes a big impact! Contact Jeff Kephart.
Jan Peek House is a shelter in Peekskill, NY, that provides food, shelter, and support for a few dozen men and women experiencing homelessness. Every 4th Saturday of the month, 3 or more families prepare dinner for 35-40 residents. If you are interested and available, please either sign up on Signup Genius or contact Jeff Kephart.
Garden of Hope Harvest season is here again! It has been a great year! Green beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, parsley, basil, radish, chard have all been distributed to the local food pantries, including St. Mary’s in Mohegan Lake, Fred’s in Peekskill and our own FPCY pantry. We can always use volunteers. The main need is with harvesting on Thursday after 3pm or working on other projects on Saturday 10-2, when Janet, the master-gardener can direct. The Garden of Hope is located at Willow Park off of Curry St in Yorktown. Especially on the 2nd and 4th weeks when the harvest is going to our pantry it is nice to have an FPCY presence. We can also use help with packaging and preparing the harvest for the food pantry distribution on Friday. Any volunteer is welcome to contact Dawna Dennis on Realm or via text (206-947-7173) if you need direction or want to arrange a time to work.