The Outreach Ministries Steering Committee is made up of Christ Episcopal Church in Covington (CECC) parishioners whose work is to discern which of the many local outreach programs to prioritize for CECC resources and raise the visibility of these programs to the CECC community.
The committee is led by Neil Kantner. To learn more about Outreach, contact him at [email protected]
Ways you can participate in Outreach:
Family REACH Alliance – The primary mission is to provide temporary housing and counseling to families that find themselves without a place of residence, usually due to illness, loss of a job by the primary income earner or similar disruptive event. Temporary housing is provided by host churches and at the Family REACH Day Center. CECC is a host church and has served in this capacity for over three years. Dates for hosting are advertised and during those dates, volunteers are needed for room preparation, meal preparation and nightly chaperones. Click here for the Family Reach website.
Northshore Food Bank – This community food bank is supported by the generosity of businesses, churches, civic organizations and individuals. The food bank provides food to more than 300 families and individuals per week. CECC was one of the founding churches in 1984. Click here for the Food Bank website.
Check the e-news for the most-requested items. There is a basket in the church and the chapel to place your items, as well as on the church office porch. To donate by check, make check payable to CECC with Northshore Food Bank indicated on the memo line. Place in the offering plate.
Northshore Food Bank Resale Shop – Sales of donations to the Resale Shop at 830 N. Columbia St. support the Northshore Food Bank to ensure the hungry in our community continue to have access to food. When you donate, give the credit to CECC and we earn gift cards to give to needy families. Click here for the Resale Shop webpage.
Just Love Your Neighbor Northshore – Just Love Your Neighbor’s mission is to assist those who have health, physical and/or monetary challenges that prevent them from maintaining and repairing their residences. Multi-denominational volunteers gather to clean up and perform repairs. Click here for the Just Love Your Neighbor website.
Just Love also works in partnership with Hosanna Hot Meals (out of Covington Presbyterian) to prepare and deliver hot meals to parish residents every Monday afternoon. Interesteded in helping with this outreach? Contact Neil Kantner at [email protected].
Christ Episcopal Enrichment Program (CEEP) – This summer enrichment program is for underprivileged children entering grades 3-6. The program is academically centered with enrichments focused on the arts. Click here for the CEEP webpage.
Thom Turkey – Each November, for over 20 years, CECC has held a food drive for Thanksgiving meal non-perishable items. The CECC Youth Group coordinates the Thom Turkey giving program by coordinating, collecting, sorting and then delivering the collected items to our Northshore Food Bank partner. For the 2024 Thanksgiving donation CECC collected 1280 pounds of food.
Advent Giving Tree – The Advent Giving Tree has a long tradition at CECC. The Youth Group initiates this annual ministry coinciding with the start of the Advent season. Parishioners select gift cards or gift wish lists from the Advent Giving Tree and return the items to be donated to children and families in need. In December 2024 we provided close to 200 gift cards and several specific gift items. Beneficiaries included Northshore Enduring Hope (foster teens), Adopt a Child, Family REACH Alliance and Just Love Your Neighbor.
Episcopal Relief and Development – Episcopal Relief & Development is the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Episcopal Relief & Development faithfully administers the funds that it receives. It provides relief in times of disaster and promotes sustainable development by identifying and addressing the root causes of suffering. Click here for the ERD website.
