St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 27 Plains Road, Windham Center, CT. 860 423 9653
Vicar - The Rev. John Burton
Sunday Holy Eucharist Service - 9.30am.
Church School for children grades 1 thru 8. Nursery available for infants and toddlers
Memorial Garden Update
from Gordon Muir:
The Windham Historic Commission approved the plans submitted for review of the reconstruction of the stonewall. St Paul’s has a Certificate of Appropriateness for the relocation and reconstruction of the stonewall. Our next step is to raise $10,000. These funds will used to pay a mason and finish the tree work. Our quote from the mason is $7,000 and he is ready to begin within the month. The tree work includes trimming the dead branches off the standing fir trees, stump grinding, and chipping brush. Then we will York Rake and till the site to smooth out the contour of the land in preparation for grass seeding. Eric Sabo has generously offered to assist with chipping, raking and tilling.
We also, are now ready to form a comittee to design the garden. If you are interested, email Gordon at gemuir@earthlink.net.
SEASON OF GIVING
from Pati Long
Mission and outreach would like to give a big heartfelt thank-you to all who gave during our Lenten season of giving. Here’s a brief tally of our generosity:
The No Freeze Center: a station wagon load of items
Lamp for Haiti: $970
Covenant soup kitchen: a table full of food goods
WAIM pantry & Holy Family Shelter: several bags of diapers, sox, underwear and toiletries & $225 (WAIM)
Bishop’s 5 K run for children: (May 15th): $140 and counting- there is still time to sponsor our runners- contact Marion Beausoleil
Hastings Open & Camp Washington campership: (June 17th) $1185 and counting. Funds beyond our pledge are used for scholarships to send our children to camp.
Need and giving are not limited to the Lenten Season. We are a parish dedicated to Mission and Outreach and will continue to help those in need. We bring food and Big Y coins to the Soup Kitchen weekly, donate funds to LAMP monthly and support local efforts in a variety of ways. The Steeple Chase (benefits Perception Programs and WAIM) is in August- look for more on this later.
Friday July 23rd 6.00pm -
"GOSP" Get Out of St Paul's
Mansfield Hollow
Saturday August 21st -
Steeple Chase Bike Tour
to benefit Perception Programs and WAIM.
Saturday August 28th 3.00pm - Annual Parish Picnic
Rain date, Sunday 29th at 11.00am
Wednesday September 1st 7.00pm -
Comtemplative Eucharist
Saturday September 18th -
Village Coffee returns - All Welome
October 4th - Blessing of the Animals
October 16th-17th - Relay for Life
October 24th - Diocesan Convention
Up Coming Fall Events
Thursdays, 2.00pm - Bible Study, Vicar's Office
1st & 3rd Saturdays, 8.30am to 10.30am - Village Coffee. Our doors are open for people to come, sit and chat over free coffee or tea. Everyone welcome, parishioners, neighbors, community at large and area visitors. First and Third Saturday of each month from 8.30am-10.30am
Alex’s Eggs - $2.00 of each dozen sold goes to support LAMP for Haiti.
Limited quantities of chicken eggs are available -- if you would like some, please call Kristin to reserve them at 456-3128.
Duck eggs are also available and are great for baking!
LAMP for Haiti Update
As you know, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake on Jan 12, 2010. We have learned that the LAMP for Haiti Clinic main building is standing, but the security perimeter wall collapsed. The water system is out. The entire staff at the Clinic are working everyday providing medical care to the local people- one of the few sites available to the people of Cite Soleil, Port au Prince. The following
information is from the newsletter and information from Dr James on Jan 20th:
The Clinic’s electricity is out and the generator is out for repair. Dr James flew to Santo Domingo, made contact with USAID and returned to the Clinic. He also is working at a nearby children’s hospital and trauma center, and Dr Joey is working at both the clinic and a hospital in Port au Prince. There is a gas shortage for vehicles, long lines and prices at $12/gal. Staff have been sleeping in the car, in line, to fill the tank. The church adjacent to the Clinic collapsed, killing 11 people. People are coming to the Clinic asking for food and water. They are providing acute care, treating lacerations, fractures, infections and infectious diseases.
The primary goals are:
1. Re-establish the Clinic presence in Cite Soleil. The prison was affected and many prisoners escaped. Twice, staff have been accosted but the clients like the Clinic and watch out for it.
2. Demonstrate solidarity by having US staff present at the Clinic.
3. Provide ongoing and immediate assistance at the Clinic and surrounding hospitals.
There are many international health care volunteers. We have purchased tires for the water truck and made arrangements for 2 deliveries of potable water for distribution. We delivered food and toys to the mother/child feeding center in Cite Soleil. We are expecting cement soon to rebuild the perimeter security wall.
Monetary donations to LAMP for Haiti will be used for supplies and care immediately. This can be done through St. Paul’s (please put in the Sunday collection basket, or leave your donation with a Vestry member, with LAMP for Haiti in the memo line), or send to: LAMP for Haiti Foundation, P.O. Box 39703, Philadelphia, PA 19106. There is a link for online donation at the lampforhaiti.org website, but it then goes to a third party first (resulting in a couple week delay in receiving the funds and a small administrative charge).
We will continue to bring updated information as it is available.
LAMP for Haiti - Pati Long, Mission and Outreach Committee
Let there be Light! Thanks to generous donations from St. Paul’s, LAMP for Haiti now has electricity at the clinic! Please take a minute to read the letter below from Sarah Long. The pictures below can also be viewed in the Parish Hall. Electricity has enabled the clinic to use computers for medical records, improved visibility, and enhanced patient care capabilities. They’ve had more MD help and are seeing more patients daily. The next area of need is supplies and meds. Thank you everyone for your help.
St. Pauls,
I wanted to personally thank you all for the wonderful support you have given both me and LAMP in our efforts to help the citizens of Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince. Tom and Dr. Jim were both very grateful and excited about the addition of electricity to the clinic. Tom told me that there is now a light bulb in the center of each room. He sent me a photograph of them turning on the first light [see pictures below] and a second photo that shows the brightness of that bulb in comparison to a second room that had not been turned on yet. Since the addition of electricity, Dr. Jim has also set up three network computers, in order to keep their medical records electronic. In addition, they are adding a water tank to the roof of the clinic, which will be very useful because of the difficulty of finding water in that area. [photo shows the complications of retrieving water in the slum]
The clinic has had some other improvements as well, including more equipment and furniture. Because of all the changes, LAMP has been able to help even more patients. On his last visit, Tom said that with the help of some American doctors they were able to see 300 patients in one day. However, he is also worried about the supplies. Due to the poverty, lack of health care and disease, they are at risk of becoming overwhelmed by the number of people they are trying to help. It is through the generosity of people such as our congregation that they are able to survive.
I am truly thankful that you have shared the passion to help these people, who have been forgotten by most of the world and treated as if they don't matter. It is through the work of volunteers, raising awareness, donations and organizations such as LAMP that change can really happen.
Also, as you may already know, LAMP will now be sending out their newsletter electronically. If anyone would like to receive this newsletter to their individual email address, please email me at SCL@bu.edu and I will forward your address to Desiree.
Thank you, Sarah Long
