August 1, 2025

Service & Outreach August 2025 Newsletter

Unnamed (10)

Service & Outreach

August News & Updates

Socks, Parishioner grants due, Money’s best work, Bear spray, YWCA food pantry, Alehouse happy hour

Thanks for the socks!

By Ann Beck

I am thrilled to report that the Songs and Socks portion of our summer concert series brought in 256 pairs of new socks! I will drop them off as soon as I can at Teen Feed and Operation Nightwatch, where I’m sure they will be especially welcome. At Epiphany’s July meal service at the Nightwatch Dispatch Center, I noticed there was a sign posted that announced socks would be handed out only once a week as supplies were very limited. Socks are small items that mean a great deal to people who spend much of the day on their feet. A mighty thank you to all who brought socks to the concerts!

Parishioner grant applications are due this Sunday!

You can drop your application in the Service & Outreach mailbox in Christie House. If you have questions, please contact Sue Cary (sue.cary@comcast.net, 206-714-2099). Notification of awards will be made in September.

Money, doing its best work

Mere dollar bills have saved the lives of three young men.

Last month, Father Joseph Constant contacted Epiphany with an urgent request. Besides being Doyt’s old friend and fellow seminarian, Father Constant is the founder of Haiti Micah Project, whose mission is to rescue abandoned children in his hometown of Mirebalais, Haiti.

Three young men needed to leave Haiti fast. The armed and violent gangs who now control much of Haiti were looking for them. To evacuate them to Brazil, one of the few countries accepting Haiti refugees, would cost $8000. Could Epiphany help?

These men, now in their twenties, were among the hundreds of Haiti street children who had grown up eating what might have been their only meal of the day at Haiti Micah Project’s community feeding program in Mirebalais, a small city of almost 100,000 about 40 miles northeast of the capital of Port-au-Prince. According to Father Constant, “They have been part of our life at Haiti Micah Project.” It was one of these young men who had helped Father Constant’s mother escape after her home in Mirebalais was invaded by a violent gang. Doyt preached about this harrowing event in his sermon on Mother’s Day: Joseph’s Mother – Epiphany Seattle.

Within days, Epiphany Service & Outreach authorized $5000 from reserved Have a Heart funds, and a check was on its way. Pray that these men will soon be safely settled in Brazil.

The young men who fled Haiti were once little boys like these, having maybe their only meal of the day at Haiti Micah’s community feeding prog

ram. Who is feeding the children now?

Pulled pork, coleslaw, corn on the cob—and bear spray!

Before and after the bear spray. Serving that night were Ann Beck, Robert Hawking, George Brumder, Terry Carlisle, and Holly Boone.

Epiphany’s meal crew at the Operation Nightwatch Dispatch Center had an especially memorable evening at our July dinner service. One moment we were serving Lorelle’s pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and corn on the cob. Suddenly guests in line started coughing. Then we caught a whiff of something that scalded our throats and made us cough like crazy too. Guests fled out the front door, and we skedaddled first to the rear of the kitchen and then out the back door to the alleyway and fresh air. Thankfully, Terry had the presence of mind before he left to turn the big floor fan around so it would blow the noxious chemicals out of the kitchen.

We learned that someone had snatched a canister of bear spray from another guest’s belt and “accidentally” discharged the spray. Poor bears who get squirted with this stuff! We enjoyed the fresh air for about fifteen minutes before we resumed serving food.

Epiphany is on Nightwatch meal duty the third Saturday of odd-numbered months. Working together at Nightwatch is a lovely way to share time with people—

people you know or barely know from church, the terrific Nightwatch staff, and the guests themselves. If you would like to volunteer sometime, talk to Ann Beck. She can’t promise that all evenings will be as exciting as ours, but you never know!

YWCA’s Little Free Pantry feeds the neighborhood

Maureen, a long-time food bank volunteer, and Megan restock the little food pantry by the YWCA branch on East Cherry.

Volunteers at the YWCA Central Area Food Bank in Madrona regularly fill the food bank’s Little Free Food pantry several times during their shifts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Within hours it is empty again. Megan, the food bank manager, estimates about 800 pounds of food are distributed from the pantry over those two days.

The pantry is a godsend for people living on the streets and for low-income residents in the neighborhood. Remember the man who was found dead at a bus stop on East Cherry a few years ago? That was James Gaines, who made a stop at the food bank on the days it was open. Megan and the volunteers looked after James as best they could and tried to stock his favorite foods in the pantry, keeping a few special items for him in the food bank refrigerators, like ready-to-eat meals and orange juice. James loved Ritz crackers, and when she can get them from Food Lifeline, Megan orders them for the pantry shelves in his memory.

Volunteers and staff enjoyed a break at the Madrona Alehouse

On a Wednesday afternoon in July, after a hard two days at the YWCA Food Bank, food bank staff and many volunteers gathered at the Madrona Ale House for a little socializing. At the table: Libby Sinclair, Susan Bannon, Jenny Cummins, Chuck Cowan, and Richard Cummins.

Susan (pink shirt) lives in Leschi House, where many residents receive supplemental food from the food bank. She is a huge help to the delivery drivers each week, making sure food bags get to the intended residents. Jenny and Richard Cummins are among the several Epiphany volunteer drivers—others are Ros Bond, Jill Marsden, and Clip Kniffin—who regularly deliver food bags to Leschi House each week. Jenny appreciates Susan’s help so much she invited her to the Alehouse as an honorary volunteer.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. — Howard Thurman

Things to do soon

Every Tuesday and Wednesday: Prep and pack food bags for the YWCA Food Bank in Madrona or deliver food to clients’ homes.

Saturday, September 20, 7:00–10:00 pm: Serve dinner to 150 or so guests at the Operation Nightwatch Dispatch Center.

Thursday, August 21, 11:30 am–2:00 pm: Serve lunch at Angeline’s Day Center for Women in Belltown.

Monday, August 18, 12:45–4:00 pm: Prepare dinners for families with a sick child at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Thursday, August 28, 6:30–8:30 pm: Prepare a meal for young people on the streets at a church in the University District.

Saturday, August 27, 9:00 am–3:00 pm: Build tiny homes at Sound Foundations NW in south Seattle.

Contact Amanda to volunteer for any of these activities.

Volunteer Opportunities

Operation Nightwatch Community Dinner, Capitol Hill

Every Tuesday, 5:00–6:30 PM

Help Nightwatch staff and volunteers set up, serve food, and clean up.

Ronald McDonald House, Sand Point

Dates vary, 12:45–4:00 PM

Prepare dinners for families with a sick child at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

YWCA Central Area Food Bank, Madrona

Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Prep and pack food bags Tuesday or Wednesday morning or deliver groceries to clients’ homes Wednesday afternoon.

Tiny Home Build, Sound Foundations, South Seattle

Fourth Saturdays, 9:00 AM–3:00 PM

Swing a hammer with Epiphany friends building tiny homes, proven stopovers for people moving from the streets to permanent housing.

Operation Nightwatch Nightly Meal, Nightwatch Dispatch Center

Third Saturday of odd-numbered months, 7:00–10:00 PM

Epiphany’s night to cook and serve food to 150 or so clients before they head for various city shelters for the night.

Teen Feed, UCC Church, University District

Fourth Thursday, January–October, 6:30–8:30 PM

Epiphany’s crew makes enchiladas for young people living on the streets.

YWCA Angeline’s Day Center for Women, Belltown

Third Thursday of the month, 11:30 AM–2:00 PM

Serve lunch to women using Angeline’s drop-in services for the homeless.

To get involved, please contact Amanda.