St. Christopher’s Church

Mission Statement

The Outreach Committee of St. Christopher’s Church is committed to improving the quality of life of the poor and disadvantaged in local, national, and international jurisdictions. Support is given to organizations that seek to empower the less fortunate to reach their full potential.

We are receptive to capital and operating needs of proven organizations that seek funds for special projects that coincide with our goals.

Guidelines

1. To identify pressing needs for our outreach efforts, such as hunger, poverty, children and youth, the elderly, the sick and homeless, and victims of disasters.
2. To support those programs that are most effectively responding to the needs identified, including smaller and start-up organizations that do not have access to large donors.
3. To make an appropriate allocation of funds for our local community, for the Philadelphia urban community, and for the nation and the world.
4. In general, to make grants to programs that are part of, or sponsored by the Episcopal Church, but, in appropriate cases, to have the flexibility to support other programs that are effectively responding to the needs identified by the Outreach Committee.
5. To support programs, in appropriate cases and in appropriate amounts, in which members of St. Christopher’s Church are participating in order to encourage and enhance our members’ personal involvement in such activities.
6. To consider efficiency in evaluating the effectiveness of a program, that is, what portion of the funds available to the program is actually being used to carry out its purposes as distinguished from administration and fund raising.
7. To make grants of sufficient size to have an impact on the program receiving the grant, rather than be a mere token contribution.
8. To continue to support a program, once the Outreach Committee has made a commitment, for three years, if appropriate, or as long as the need continues and the program remains effective. At the same time, the Outreach Committee must continue to assess needs and programs and have the flexibility to respond as new needs and new programs emerge.

Outreach Committee Operating Procedures

1. The committee will meet at least four times annually to review and act on grant applications, twice in the fall and twice in the spring. Additional meetings may be scheduled. Each meeting will start at 7:00 p.m. with a prayer and end no later than 8:30 pm.
2. A financial report will be distributed at each Outreach Committee meeting.
3. Minutes will be distributed of each meeting. The minutes-taker will rotate among the committee members.
4. To apply for a grant, applicants must submit their request on an application form which is available by calling the Church office at (610) 642-8920 or by contacting the Outreach Chair.
5. Applications must be received by May 1 to be eligible for funding in the first six months of a year and by October 1 to be eligible for funding in the second half of a year.

* Charities that received a grant from St. Christopher’s in the previous year will also complete an evaluation form detailing how the grant was spent.

* Committee members and parishioners may remind charities of application deadlines, but they should warn charities that submission of an application is no guarantee of funding.

6. Each application will be reviewed by a committee member. The review should include a phone call to the applicant, a review of relevant documents, and a site visit when feasible. The member’s report will follow a form which will be posted on the church’s website.

7. Decisions about funding will be made at a full committee meeting. A quorum consists of at least half plus one members of the Committee. Applications that have been reviewed may be provisionally approved pending the submission of any additional information or documentation. Final approval may be obtained from all members after the meeting by telephone, in-person, or email. Applications that have not been reviewed in a full committee meeting will not be approved via email or other informal communications with the exception of #8, below.

8. In emergency situations, and if funds permit, a grant may be made without an application and or full committee review. These grants can be made on the recommendation of The Reverend Mary Laney or The Reverend Bill Wood or any committee member. An example would be a grant to a mission church in the diocese that experienced a sudden breakdown in essential equipment. The committee will be consulted as feasible by telephone, email, or in person. The decision and grant amounts will be shared as soon as possible with the committee via email. A full report of the grant will be shared at the next committee meeting.

9. Committee members will make every effort to attend meetings. They will review at least one application a year. They will participate in at least one of the Church’s activities that benefit outreach, such as Azalea Day, Soup Group, or Outreach Sunday, or in a diocesan outreach ministry. They will assist with efforts to publicize the Outreach program within the St. Christopher’s parish.

2008 Outreach Grantees

• All Souls’ Church for the Deaf – ministry support
• Community Outreach Partnership – services to homeless workers
• Contact Greater Philadelphia – outreach to homebound elderly
• Cradles to Crayons – new items for children in poverty
• Dolphins of Delaware Valley – volunteer services for elderly in nursing homes
• ElderNet – outreach services to homebound elderly
• Episcopal Church Club – scholarship program for seminary training
• Episcopal Community Services
o The Butterfly Program at St. Barnabas Mission
o The Urban Bridges Program
• Episcopal Relief and Development – emergency relief for cyclone victims
• Free Church of St. John – ministry support
• Herberta Smith Clinic – medical services to African prisoners
• Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center –development of community center
• Lutheran Episcopal Campus Ministry – campus ministry at Temple Univ.
• Seamen’s Church Institute –mission to international seamen
• Smith Memorial Playground – inner-city playground
• SouthWest Community Enrichment Center – after-school program
• St. Andrew/St. Monica Churches – to defray winter heating costs
• St. Gabriel’s Church – assistance for electrical renovation
• St. George/St. Barnabas Churches – ministry support
• St. Mary/St. Dismiss Episcopal Church – ministry support
• WePAC – after-school programs for inner-city youth