Category: Outreach

2023 Christmas Toy Shop

Cheri Simonet
Christmas Toy Shop

This year our Toy Shop, that benefits Pantry guests, will be held on Tuesday, December 12th. Please consider donating toys to support our cause.

Toys are needed for ages 2 through 18 years old and should be dropped off before Sunday, December 10th. Toys for teenagers are especially needed. Please place your unwrapped donations in the toy chest that’s at the bottom of the Sanctuary stairs.

And for those who’re not interested in shopping, you can contribute with a monetary gift by selecting the Pantry Toy Shop Fund through our online giving portal or send a check to the office at 200 S. Ashland Avenue, 54302 and note Toy Shop in the memo line.

As guests arrive for the Pantry between 10am and noon, they’ll receive a slip of paper to shop the toy shop. We’re in need of 3-4 of Santa’s elves to be personal shoppers for our guests. Personal shoppers will assist our guests to choose from the age-appropriate selection of toys. If you’re able to help as a personal shopper elf, please call Jane Bies at 920-621-6400.

Thank you for your support and for helping us make a Merrier Christmas for those in need!

Christmas Prayer Baskets 2023

Cheri Simonet
Christmas Prayer Baskets

We are excited to once again be ‘adopting’ three families from nearby Tank Elementary School to bless with our love, prayers and Christmas gifts and a meal. This will be our final Christmas adopting families from Tank School as the District has voted to close the school following this academic year.

We have obtained wish lists for the children and adults in each family and those wishes are in three separate baskets on the table in the back of the Sanctuary. Members should take a tag or tags from the baskets and return gifts to the church unwrapped by Thursday, December 14th. Monetary contributions are also welcome.

Thank you to our family coordinators: Patti & Kevin Kabacinski for the Angel Family, Olivia Crooks for the Jesus Family and Lisa Olsen for the Star Family. The coordinator’s role is to make sure the wishes are distributed and returned, then to deliver the gifts and meal. Our youth will wrap and tag all the gifts.

Thank you for your support!

Thank you for your support!

October 2023 Fourth Sunday Faith Forum

Cheri Simonet
New Community Shelter Logo

A new opportunity for adult enrichment and connection from the Christian Education Committee, the Fourth Sunday Faith Forum featured International Peacemaker Noemi Sanchez from El Salvador last month and will feature a representative from New Community Shelter this month.

Please join us on Sunday, October 22nd in the Fellowship Room from 9:00 to 9:45am for a presentation about the ministry and outreach of this social service organization just down the street from our church.

At our Advent Festival last year, we stuffed socks with personal care products for unsheltered people and our youth group delivered them to the shelter and got to tour the facility and hear a little more about what they do. Now they are coming to us to share their ministry!

Don’t miss this chance to learn about a ministry in our community.

Gestures of Generosity, September 2023

Cheri Simonet
Gestures of Generosity

Thank you for your Gesture!

We have struggled for years over the challenge of cooling the Fellowship Room during the hottest summer months, and in an amazing gesture of generosity an anonymous donor has done the research, arranged for the electrical work, and installed a room air conditioner in the window for us! If you haven’t been in the Fellowship Room much in the last month, be sure to stop by and see for yourself just how cool and comfortable it can now be. Deep gratitude to the donor for caring for our physical as well as spiritual health.

St. John Shelter Donations

Also, in early August we were blessed to have so many members who answered the call for blankets and backpacks for donation to St. John’s Shelter.

It didn’t take long after asking before people opened their hearts and generously donated to this great cause! Stephanie Fahringer’s car was overloaded with all the donations that were received.

A special thanks to Elliot Stensen who spent that morning helping out at the Pantry and the afternoon helping load up the blankets and backpacks that were given. Susan at St. John’s helped unload the car and it was just amazing how guests lined up immediately and asked for a blanket. Within just a few minutes all the blankets were passed out.

A BIG THANK YOU to all who contributed, especially Lisa and Dave Solper’s friends who donated MANY! God has blessed us so we could in turn bless many folks truly in need.

If you have a Gestures of Generosity story to share, please contact Cheri at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org and tell us your story.

In need of a meal or a ride?

Cheri Simonet
Deacon Carpool

If you are temporarily in need of a meal or a ride to church, the Deacons have a network in place to help you get through your difficult time.

Please let us know if you are recovering from an illness or surgery and are in need of a few meals to help you get by until you are recovered. You can call the church office at 920-437-8121 and we can get that arranged for you.

If you are in need of a ride to church the Deacons also have a network in place for you to be picked up and brought to church. Again, you can just call the church office and arrangements can be made.

As Deacons of First Presbyterian Church our primary goal is taking care of our members when difficult situations arise. If you are in need of a helpful meal or a ride to church please call the church office at 920-437-8121 or the Deacon Moderator, Linda Michael at 920-347-0261.

Feed My Starving Children August 10th Green Bay Rockers Benefit

Cheri Simonet
FMSC - Green Bay Rockers Benefit

Join us on Thursday, August 10th for a night at Capital Credit Union Park when the Green Bay Rockers hit the ballpark to benefit Feed My Starving Children!

The cost is $15 per ticket with Hat Fundraiser. For each ticket purchased, $4 will go back to Feed My Starving Children.

Gates open at 5:35pm and the first pitch is at 6:35pm. Download the flyer below and scan the QR code to purchase tickets or visit https://greenbayrockers.com –> Buy Tickets –> Promotions –> Enter Promo Code: FMSC.

We hope to see you at the ballpark!

DOWNLOAD FLYER TO SCAN QR CODE

2023 Back To School Drive for Tank

Cheri Simonet
Tank School

August 1-31 are the dates for our annual Tank Back to School supply drive! Tank Elementary School is one of the most ethnically diverse and needy schools in the Green Bay public school district. Our church has “adopted” Tank and has a long history of supporting and interacting with the school and students.

Every child should have new pencils, crayons, glue, etc. for school. The electronic list of supplies can be found at Tank School Supply List or copies are on the table in the narthex. You can also download a printable copy.

There will be a table at the back of the Sanctuary to deposit your donations when you are here on Sundays, or any other day Monday – Thursday 9:30 am to 2:00 p.m. through August 31.

We can also shop for you if you’d prefer – checks should have the notation BTS supplies and if online, choose the “other” fund and note BTS.

THANK YOU for your support!

Gestures of Generosity, August 2023

Cheri Simonet
Gestures of Generosity

Thank you for your Gesture!

How does the Presbyterian Pantry get all the food we give away?

Some of it is given directly by church members, some is purchased through various discount programs available to food shelves around the city, and some just seems to fall into our laps (or into Stephanie Fahringer’s car!).

In the last two weeks we’ve received two cars full of food from Treehouse Foods, and we are so grateful for their generosity. This recent gift included orange immunity drink mix, energy bars, instant oatmeal, pasta, honey mustard sauce, ranch dressing, pickles, graham crackers and cookies. This came about because Stephanie swims at the YMCA with the head of Treehouse Foods, and her granddaughter’s husband also works there. Good connections makes for great generosity!

The Pantry also recently received a large quantity of yogurt and cheese from Schreiber Foods…we weren’t sure if we could take the generous offer, as our refrigerator has been struggling to remain chilled, but Gene Stenson was able to fix it and we’re now stocked with lots of yogurt and cheese for our families.

Thank you to Gene, to Schreiber Foods, and to Treehouse Foods for all this generosity!

If you have a Gestures of Generosity story to share, please contact Cheri at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org and tell us your story.

August 2023 Brat Fry

Cheri Simonet
Brat Fry

Thank you to everyone for supporting our July Brat Fry when we raised $645.40!

We need your help to make our August Brat Fry just as successful!

Please consider volunteering to serve or cashier on Sunday, August 13th at Festival in Bellevue which will be hosted by the Outreach Committee. Proceeds from the August brat fry will benefit the Pantry.

There are two volunteer shifts to choose from:

9am to 1pm and 1pm to 5pm

If you can help out as a volunteer sign up sheets are on the bulletin board or contact Kevin Kabacinski at 920-619-4458.

And, as a thank you bonus, all volunteers receive a FREE brat. Now, there’s nothing better than that!

We’re hoping for good weather, hungry customers and outstanding volunteers to feed them.

Thanks in advance for considering to help!

Gestures of Generosity, July 2023

Cheri Simonet
Gestures of Generosity

Thank you for your Gesture!

We are blessed with so much generosity in our family of faith that it is hard to recognize it all!

In the past month the church has received special gifts from members to help pay for the new softball jerseys our team wears, a very generous contribution to help cover the cost of the new server for the computer system in the office, and several very helpful gifts to the Emergency Assistance fund that allows us to purchase gas cards and provide rent assistance to those in need.

The Outreach Committee reports that our response to the Pentecost offering, one of the four annual special offerings we receive for the PC(USA), was the largest in recent years by a huge margin!

This offering is divided, with 60% going to denominational programs that support children and youth especially, and 40% remaining in our local community to be given to a program or agency that also supports young people in our midst. The committee decided to divide this portion of the offering between a new YMCA program for children on the autism spectrum and sponsorship of Fly A Kite Fest 2023 with Family and Childcare Resources of N.E.W. That event was held on Saturday, June 24 and celebrated its tenth year. Our church name was included in advertising and flew on a flag at the event grounds. Your generosity to the Pentecost offering allowed us to be generous with both these excellent programs in our community.

Presbyterian Pantry & Brown County United Way
Presbyterian Pantry & Brown County United Way

Also, the Presbyterian Pantry was given thirteen cases of canned veggies from Brown County United Way. This is a gift of their annual campaign to help all the pantries in the area. A special thanks to Sierra who serves as the co-coordinator for this event.

If you have a Gestures of Generosity story to share, please contact Cheri at communications@firstpresgreenbay.org and tell us your story.