Community outreach, mission, and service are all part of the work at St. Luke. Through the leadership of dedicated committees, St. Luke deacons, members and friends, we seek to support and provide services to our neighbors and the greater community. St. Luke has a long history of supporting and advocating for homeless communities, as well as a number of food programs in Marin. Whether collecting items such as toiletries, snacks, socks and blankets and distributing to those in need, or partnering with local agencies and non-profit organizations, there’s never a shortage of opportunities for you to help serve our extended community.
ST. LUKE IN SERVICE
San Pedro Elementary School is St. Luke's neighborhood public elementary school just minutes away on Pt. San Pedro Road. St. Luke has supported the needs of the families at San Pedro with the guidance of school leadership, including assisting families of students who were quarantined for Covid-19 exposure.
Currently we are partnering with the school, with volunteers helping with enrichment programs on Wednesday afternoons.
Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy Dinner
Pre-pandemic, every Tuesday night at First Presbyterian in San Rafael, several local congregations rotate to provide dinner and fellowship for approximately 80- 100 people. St. Luke has taken a leadership role in this outreach program with Michael Baranowski - an elder and member of St. Luke - designated as kitchen manager, supporting participating congregations each week throughout the year. St. Luke itself serves every 6- 8 weeks, staffed by our cheerful volunteers.
The 2021 holiday season found more than two dozen St. Luke participants created 100 personal pies and a full holiday meal for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. More than 200 pies were baked and full dinners served to 220 unsheltered and food insecure guests.
During the COVID quarantine, the Street Chaplaincy pivoted to a hot meal to go Burrito Ministry serving more than 10,000 burritos and sandwich wraps since March 2021. Now with the mandates easing, The Street Chaplaincy has begun to transitioned to a traditional meal service. Regular meals are back but still in grab and go style. Three-course hot meals in TV dinner trays, along with homemade cookies (provided by numerous organizations) go out every Tuesday to Marin’s unsheltered & food insecure
For more information contact:
Michael Baranowski
Tuesday Night Burritos and Kitchen Crew (click to expand)
St. Luke collaborates with Welcoming Home – a community of dedicated volunteers, donors, and partners - to bring hope and comfort to families in need in Marin and Sonoma counties. Welcoming Home is dedicated to helping individuals and families who are transitioning out of homelessness and poverty by fully furnishing and equipping their “new” homes, turning a house into a home in a single day of transformation. The organization engages the local communities in donating funds and needed items to foster their mission of neighbors helping neighbors. By repurposing items from donors, Welcoming Home also helps to reduce the volume of used furniture and household goods going to the landfill.
Click here to see the transformation from empty apartment to new homes.
For more information contact:
Gilead House is a place of hope to inspire and empower homeless single moms and their children toward financial stability and independence as they navigate the journey to self-reliance. Established in 1999, Gilead House provides a stable home environment for low-income, vulnerable, and often homeless single mothers and their children. Their 24-month program offers women the opportunity to learn vital skills in a supportive environment so our residents can make permanent changes in their life.
St Luke has adopted a room at Gilead House, donating bedding, towels, pillows, baskets, comforters, throws, toiletries, and other items to outfit the room for the next mother and her children. Additionally, during the 2021 Christmas season, nine families received a complete Christmas luncheon including hams and turkey and all the side dishes. Outreach also arranged for donated household goods to be delivered, including gingerbread houses, puzzles, fun sox, games, movie night goodies and DVDs, paper towels, toilet paper, detergent and pull-up diapers, etc.
Sanzuma is dedicated to increasing the availability of freshly grown foods through gardening and urban farming, policy, improving health, and reconnecting people with their environment. Since 2013 Sanzuma has converted many existing school gardens into producing farms and taught thousands of nutrition classes while educating the students how to grow their own food. The bounty from the gardens is then processed through the San Rafael City School lunch program for their salad bars. St. Luke has participated in work days at the school farms, and has provided holiday meals for some of the Sanzuma families.