The date of July 29 is set, and the B & A Warehouse has been reserved. To make this fun evening a roaring success, we need donated items for our auction. Some suggestions are: Weekend stay at vacation homes, guided fishing or hunting trips, sports memorabilia, art items/paintings, donations from retail stores or restaurants, home/garden items. Please contact Anne Rand (asrand@yahoo.com or 591-7889) if you have something to donate.

Grace Episcopal Food Pantry is now in its seventh year of continuous outreach to the Woodlawn community and other nearby neighborhoods. This outreach takes on various forms in response to the need around us, but the weekly food distribution addresses the most basic need. In 2009, we distributed 32 tons of food to more than 450 families. Saint's Luke's has been a generous and faithful supporter of Grace Food Pantry virtually from the start-up of our operation. That support has come in the form of grants enabling us to buy food (primarily from the United Way Food Bank) and in the service of volunteers.

Sandi and Jim Keith were sackers in the Pantry for several years. This task involves bagging groceries from the Pantry shelves, usually on a weekend, for food distribution the following Tuesday.

Other than sacking, which is typically scheduled on a rotational basis of once a month or once every six weeks, there are other opportunities for volunteers. For the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, we try to do something extra for Pantry guests; and volunteers are welcomed to assist with bagging and distribution of turkeys and hams and festive trimmings.

When contributions to the Food Pantry are earmarked "for food," we comply. Other donations come with no stipulation beyond "use as needed." With these monies, we are able to provide clothing vouchers to the 55th Place Thrift Store for emergencies. We are also able to purchase personal care items, such as toothpaste, soap, deodorant and toilet paper. For the past several years, we have been blessed with the means to buy new toys and other gifts at Christmas for the children of those families who depend upon the Pantry.

Grace By Day, a companion ministry to Grace Food Pantry, offers other opportunities for volunteers. Monday through Friday, from 11:00AM to 12:30PM, Grace By Day extends hospitality in Branscomb Commons to those who await the hot meal provided every day by Community Kitchens. Volunteers serve juice and cookies to these guests and lend a sympathetic ear when someone needs to talk. This outreach was begun some 20 years ago as a gesture of compassion to those who waited for the noonday meal in all kinds of weather, summer and winter, some homeless, many with health issues. Lida Hill, of Saint Luke's, has long been a supporter and volunteer for Grace By Day. Every week she offers "Wonderful Wednesday Worship," a service of thanksgiving that is a ministry within itself. Lida is also a mainstay for the Grace By Day Neighborhood Christmas Party, which presents other opportunities for volunteering to those who might be interested. Saint Luke's is a vital partner to Grace Food Pantry and to our overall outreach to the homeless, the hungry, those who have lost their identity, those who are too sick even to avail themselves of the services that might be at hand-and to many more. To us, Saint Luke's is indeed "a serving community."

--Joyce Benington for Grace Outreach