Mission & Outreach
Our Outreach Committee strives to make the world a better place by focussing our efforts on poverty reduction, food insecurity, environmental protection and refugee support.
Volunteer Opportunities
- Helping to plant, tend and water the plants in our community garden.
- Organizing our Christmas Pyjama Drive on behalf of Kerr Street Mission.
- Assisting with the remaining tasks when our next Afghani refugee family arrives, probably in late spring.
- Participating in the Neighbourhood Care Network, an organization that provides a helping hand to local people in need.
- Planning programs to help educate our church members and the broader community about indigenous issues
Poverty Reduction
- Christmas Wonders Program – Every November we receive about 85 donations of new pyjamas plus cash of about $1000 to provide food and presents for the young clients of Kerr Street Mission.
- Pyjama Drive 2023: We had another fantastic year thanks to your kind generosity. We donated 66 pyjama sets and raised over $1,000 for this very worthy cause run by Kerr Street Mission. A special thanks to Rachel Onufryk for her leadership in running this campaign, and a big thank you to the Gilchrist clan for their enthusiastic kickoff decked out in their PJ’s!
- Neighbourhood Care Network – We partner with Kerr Street Mission to provide volunteers to help our local citizens in need of a helping hand. Our help can range from assisting clients in finding rental accommodation to helping them access social services. Sometimes the only skill required is that you be a good listener. Volunteers are trained by Kerr Street Mission and matched with the individuals in need. Keep an eye out for upcoming training
- Human Trafficking in Halton – A new initiative is to work with local churches and organizations to help the victims of human trafficking in our neighbourhood.
Oakville’s United Church congregations are welcome to join in Song of Praise at St. John’s United church on April 14. Come hear all your favourite hymns & choir anthems. A free will offering and presentation supporting Nancy’s house: a safe haven for survivors of sexual trafficking
St. John’s United Church, 262 Randall St., Oakville, ON.
Food Insecurity
- Our church has been supporting the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for many years. The Modern Miracle Spaghetti dinner is held annually as a fundraiser. The funds raised help to relieve famine and provide agricultural training in the developing world.
We served around 90 meals & raised roughly $3,000 for Canada Foodgrains Bank (CFGB). Big thank you to:
The Old Spaghetti Factory & the Hnatiw Family for donating the meals!
Kim MacKay & Bill Bremner for helping with cost of Salad and Ice Cream Sundaes!
The Belle Choir for providing dessert squares!The over 20 volunteers who helped sell tickets, run the kitchen, serve the meals, and cleanup!
The McKee family for performing some sing-alongs!
Lastly, thanks to all of you that attended & donated
- Dinners at Kerr Street Mission – Our church along with many other Oakville churches take turns in providing healthy meals to the clients of Kerr Street Mission.
- Community Garden – Vegetables raised in our garden are donated to the Kerr Street Mission foodbank as well as other foodbanks in Oakville.
Environmental Protection
Our pollinator garden of native plants was created to showcase how a garden can benefit birds, butterflies and other insects.
Refugee Support
In the past 5 years we have sponsored 7 Middle Eastern refugee families from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and we are expecting our seventh family in late spring.
If you are interested in donating gently used clothing or furniture, please contact Safety Net to make your contributions.