Backpack Giveaway 2026

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Stewardship Working Group's Saturday event a success. An especially HUGE thank you to Sheeba, Rakesh, Daniel, and Abby for everything they did to coordinate quantities, appropriate supplies for each grade, and get the bags packed. 

We were able to share 40 bags on Saturday, and another 50 will be distributed by COOL Food Pantry. 

As we talked about what made this event a success, Daniel (6th grade) said two things that I really love. First, that we had more people than we thought we'd have! Lots of people stopped by either because of our Facebook posts or because they saw the sign Sheeba and Rakesh were holding up. 

Second, we noted that people seemed to be a lot more relaxed when they left than when they first stopped, and talked about how our volunteers (Abby, Daniel, Leslie, Jim, Sonia, and PJ were handing bags out) all helped everyone to feel so welcome and safe. 

It can be scary and really hard to have to ask for help, and there are many churches where they make people share their info or pray with them in order to receive help. St. Andrew's is SO good at letting people truly show up as they are, and not making them do or be something else. What a wonderful success ♥

If you want to see more of these community connections, any one of our ministry teams is a great place to start! Outreach technically falls under the Service Team, but every ministry has the opportunity to coordinate our outreach opportunities. Not sure exactly which one? Let's get coffee and talk about your gifts!