August 28, 2014West Hill Outreach Cookout
The Cathedral congregation hosted a neighborhood cookout at St. Francis’ Mission in West Hill, on August 28, 2014. About 70 people, including many children from the neighborhood, joined us for hot dogs and snacks. This cookout, organized and sponsored by the Cathedral Outreach department, is the first of three major outreach events leading up to the launch of an after-school program in July 2015.
St. Francis Mission, formerly known as Grace and Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, will be familiar to many members of the Cathedral. The church building is located on the corner of Clinton Avenue and Robin Street in the heart of the West Hill neighborhood. Though no longer an active Episcopal congregation, St. Francis Mission still hosts a number of ministries, including serving a free lunch on Saturdays. Volunteers from our congregation regularly assist at this feeding program on the fourth Saturday of each month.
As the Cathedral has discerned a call to serve the neighborhoods of Arbor Hill and West Hill, Father Paul Hunter and the Outreach team have begun looking for ways to make connections in these neighborhoods. This event gave members of the Cathedral the chance to get out and meet their neighbors in West Hill.
The parking lot at St. Francis proved to be an ideal location for an informal neighborhood gathering. As soon as the grill started going at 3 o’clock, and music started playing on a speaker, people in the neighborhood took notice and joined us. As well as food, we had activities for kids including giant bubbles and face painting (see pictures). Deacon Sue Plaske set up a prayer table, that ended up being quite busy. When we wrapped up at 5, we had served 120 hot dogs to about 70 people.
We got to know some new friends, invited folks to the Cathedral, and got to hear about the needs of the neighborhood. We shared our plan to start up an after school program next July, and gave people the chance to share what services would be helpful to families and children in West Hill. We collected contact information and some information about families, and also told visitors about our next planned events in West Hill.
This was the first of three planned outreach events, building up to the launch of an after school program in July of 2015. Our next event will be a one day VBS on Columbus Day, October 13th, at St. Francis. We will also have a weeklong VBS in February of 2015 over President’s Day vacation. National holidays and school breaks are often difficult times for families in need of child care, and by holding events during these times the Cathedral can provide a very concrete service. These events also provide opportunities to build relationships in the neighborhood and learn how we can best be of service.
If you would like to volunteer at one of the upcoming outreach events, please speak to Father Paul Hunter.
The Rev. Canon Paul Hunter
Canon for Mission,
The Cathedral of All Saints in the City
and Diocese of Albany.
