Outreach at Trinity

Mission Statement

Reaching out beyond our parish to serve the needs of others locally and globally.

The members of Trinity Church are committed to Outreach. We support a diverse group of programs through monetary donations and the time and talent of our parishioners. Our Outreach Committee is made up of parishioners that meet quarterly to discuss ideas and opportunities to support programs by raising funds, coordinating collections and working with various organizations that reach those in need.  Organizations that we support are:

Center for Food Action

The CFA in Mahwah provides emergency food, homeless-ness prevention and utility assistance to tens of thousands of individuals and families living in Northern NJ. The Center annually distributes over 70,000 emergency food packages to local families and individuals consisting of seven day’s-worth of food.  The amount of food a household receives is based on family size.  On average, an emergency food package consists of 6 bags of groceries.  As needed, CFA clients can come for food packages up to 12 times a year.

Trinity Outreach contributes nearly a dozen Thanksgiving Meal Baskets, each filled with a turkey and a complete Thanksgiving meal, to the CFA.  These baskets join others to provide for over 3,400 households totaling 11,679 people.  In addition, on a monthly basis, Trinity helps provide school supplies, back packs, snack packs and toiletries for needy children attending Northern NJ’s elementary schools.

Our dollar donations, coupled with many others, enable the CFA to help 1,980 households with other basic needs: rent - 479 households, security deposits - 396 households, utility & heating bills - 986 households, and miscellaneous assistance to 119 households.

St. Paul's Shelter/CDC

The Emergency Men's Shelter at St. Paul’s Church in Paterson provides emergency housing, clothing and food to as many as 40 homeless men per night. The Shelter relies on volunteer support from nearly 30 area churches (some 200+ volunteers) per year that bring prepared food and serve hot meals each night.  Trinity Outreach serves one night per month.

The Shelter staff works to make each resident's stay as brief and helpful as possible by providing referrals for housing, employment, mental health and rehabilitation services.  As a condition of staying in the Shelter, all residents must participate in day programs to help them treat their addictions, address their educational needs or find work.

It is the ultimate goal of the SPCDC Emergency Men's Shelter to work with clients to identify the root causes of their homeless condition and through collaboration, to give the residents a sense of control over their own futures, consequently, being more likely to take responsibility for their own goals.  Last year, the SPCDC Emergency Men's Shelter provided services to 81 homeless men, who were supported by 6,883 bed nights, 30,600 meals, and 1,880 hours of counseling.

As part of Trinity’s Outreach Ministry, parishioners provide dinner for the men at the St. Paul’s Shelter on the third Thursday of every month.  We cook, deliver and serve the meal for a varying number of men, usually about 30.  The cooking can be done at home or in the church kitchen.  If you are willing to cook but not deliver, there are volunteers available to deliver.  Receipts can be submitted for cooking expenses for those who wish to be reimbursed.  There are recipe suggestions available and experienced volunteers are willing to assist first-timers.  There is a sign-up sheet in the Parish Hall for those willing to help with this ministry.

Mitten Tree

Trinity Outreach really knows how to use a Christmas Tree for full benefit!  After the tree is used to collect for Holiday Meals for the Mustard Seed Academy and for children’s gifts for the Prison Ministry, parishioners create a Mitten Tree in the narthex, festooning the limbs of the tree with sets of mittens, gloves and scarves for the folks at St. Paul’s CDC, making their winter experience a better, warmer one.

Outreach delivers the mittens to St. Paul’s just before the coldest days of winter arrive in January every year.  This project is a gift of pure love for our brothers and sisters at St. Paul’s CDC.

“Souper” Bowl of Caring

Using the energy of the Super Bowl to mobilize youth in a national effort to care for people in local communities who are hungry and in need, the Souper Bowl of Caring transforms the time around the Super Bowl into the nation's largest celebration of giving and serving.

Trinity Outreach collects dollars for this national non-profit that uses a National Youth Advisory Board to give young people opportunities to lead their communities in helping others.  Every dollar collected is donated directly to a charity selected by each participating group to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.  Despite the negative impact of hunger and poverty on people and communities in need, this organization believes there is joy in serving and giving for the young people involved.

Alleluia Fund for Outreach

Our diocese celebrates and shares God’s abundance with gifts to the Alleluia Fund for Outreach. Together, our Episcopal Charity transforms lives.  Since 2010, $724,000 has been distributed to programs providing practical, hands-on support to those most vulnerable in our diocese and internationally, and sponsored by our communities of faith or their members.  Key areas of support include food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, education for youth and adults, and international programs providing relief and/or support of the Millennium Development Goals.

Last December, Alleluia Fund grants were awarded to 27 congregation-based or affiliated programs and stress a greater allocation towards food and shelter ministries.  The diverse set of grantees includes community kitchens and food pantries working to address hunger in our towns and neighborhoods; shelters working with homeless guests to develop the skills needed to gain employment, achieve independence, and re-integrate into the community; educational and occupational programs for the under-resourced and under-served; and international programs fighting poverty and disease.

All 2015 donations to the Alleluia Fund will be distributed to these "hands-on" ministries, without overhead or administrative costs.  Through this fund, Trinity’s gifts have a direct and immediate impact in all corners of our diocese:

North Porch

North Porch fills the gap in emergency situations when needy families are displaced or have shortfalls in their budget by providing diapers, formula, baby food, wipes and toiletry items - critical supplies for babies and toddlers in need.

A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, North Porch was incorporated in 1984 in Newark, New Jersey by the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Newark.  Its Women and Infants’ Centers provide emergency aid, in the form of baby supplies, to mothers and infants in northern New Jersey, to help them stabilize and improve the quality of their lives.

At centers in Newark, Paterson, Dover and Hackettstown, clients are referred by social service agencies and religious organizations. They are able to visit up to four times a year and at each visit receive one week’s supply of diapers, wipes, formula, baby food and toiletries.  In northern NJ, the Cathedral House center in Newark serves clients 3 days a week. In Paterson, the center operates out of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and is open 3 days a week.

Mustard Seed Academy

Founded by former parishioners, Real Partners Uganda is a registered 501c3 non-profit that supports ministries in Uganda that educate and care for orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda, Africa.  There are now more than 500 children at Kalungu’s Mustard Seed Academy, including nursery, primary and secondary schools. 

The Academy is unique in offering comprehensive care for children in addition to a first rate education.  The kids are fed, clothed, given medical care and supervised by loving adults--all things in short supply where they live in town. 

The impact is amazing:  The 18 girls and 13 boys in Mustard Seed Academy's graduating primary school class set the standard again in Kalungu District by producing the best performance of the 250 schools on Uganda's national Primary Leavers Exam held in November, 2013. 

RPU and its Ugandan partners are working actively to establish a self-sustainable learning community, and to address the root causes of poverty in East Africa.  Trinity Outreach funding will sponsor four young students at Mustard Seed Academy in 2015.  In addition, parishioners sponsor their own students as well.  At Christmas, Outreach sponsors a Holiday Meal program to help fund meals for children who leave school for homes where there is not enough food for even one meal a day. 

Tails of Hope Foundation

Tails of Hope of Park Ridge works to provide Military Working Dogs (MWDs) and their military handlers the extra supplies that are crucial for the care of these working dogs that have been used to support the military since 1812. 

These “4-legged soldiers” are highly trained and have 250 million scent receptors that are capable of detecting explosives that a soldier would not see.  It is believed that over 10,000 lives were saved in Vietnam alone due to the MWDs. 

As with many organizations, budgets have been cut and therefore the protective gear for extreme heat and cold as well as bullet-proof vests with cameras to provide the soldier sight from afar or underground are often not provided for these working dogs.

Tails of Hope also sends care packages directly to American military men and women overseas.  Working with this organization will enable us to be part of this ministry that extends care for working animals.

Pony Power Therapies

Pony Power Therapies is a unique non-profit organization giving special needs and at-risk children and adults, including veterans, an opportunity to ride, care for and interact with horses.  

Since 2000, Pony Power has provided activities to children and adults with a broad spectrum of developmental and physical disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, seizure disorder, developmental disabilities, mental health challenges, visual impairments and traumatic brain injury.  It also serves individuals, families and groups facing a range of life challenges.

Trinity’s Outreach donations help Pony Power Therapies provide horse-assisted therapeutic activities to children and adults, serving as Bergen County’s only facility providing horse-assisted activities for special needs populations.  Pony Power Therapies is accredited by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, the equine-assisted activity industry’s leading accrediting body. 

Allendale Fire & Ambulance

Trinity Church celebrates its connection to Allendale’s emergency volunteers by holding an annual Holy Eucharist service of recognition, appreciation and support for these volunteers and professionals. 

The Allendale Volunteer Fire Department is always seeking members.  Men and women who are experienced or even brand new to the job will be welcome.  AVFD members are exposed to many different emergency and non-emergency situations, including structure fires, motor vehicle crashes, technical rescue situations, and mutual aid alarms.  Joining the department is a great way to support Allendale and even prepare for a paid career in fire service. 

Allendale Volunteer Ambulance Corps provides pre-hospital emergency medical care to the Allendale and Saddle River communities 24/7/365 on a volunteer basis.  Ambulance Corps services are always free with no cost to the patient and no insurance billing.  The Corps depends upon the generosity and good will of community members to support the organization's financial needs.

Fully trained volunteer EMS professionals who take training designed to prepare them for any and all emergencies, Corps volunteers are members of the EMS Council of New Jersey and the Northwest Bergen Emergency Medical Service Association.

Prison Ministry

The Prison Ministry of the Diocese of Newark is motivated by the Gospel imperative “I was in prison and you visited me.”  We visit Christ when we help the incarcerated, the children of the incarcerated, their families, and our communities. The Ministry advocates for restorative justice, interfaith programs, and personal healing for prisoners, their families, and communities.

Through Bible study, we share the Good News of God's love with the men in Northern State Prison every week.  Trinity helps make the holidays brighter by collecting Christmas gifts for children whose parents are incarcerated.  The gifts are then given by the parent to the child at men and women’s units parties.

Mentoring Programs:  Statistics show that children whose parents are incarcerated are six times more likely to end up in prison than their peers.  Prison ministry presents the PATCH Program (Parents and their Children) for court-appointed children of incarcerated parents.  The Learning By Experience Children’s Program is a Saturday Mentoring program held in a facility near the homes of the children we serve.  During this 3-hour program, mentors and volunteers help the children develop the tools and skills they need for healthy relationships and learning.

Jail Visits:  Staying close to an incarcerated mom or dad is important for the emotional and social welfare of the children. We support the family's health by offering supervised visits held in a specially designed PATCH room at the jails.

Outreach Committee Members

Pat Schmalfuhs – Outreach Co-Chair, God Squad Coordinator

Paralee Restivo – Outreach Co-Chair

Donna Speizer – Cooking Ministry Coordinator

Carol Messer – Angel Tree Coordinator; Prison Ministry

Nancy Schneberger

Shane Walters

Mimi Brauch

Barbara Neil

Mary Ann Pearson

Priscilla Henry

New members are most welcome!  Please check the newsletter or bulletin for our next meeting date.