Category: Outreach

Helping Vulnerable Kids

Cheri Simonet
Friends of Pals, Youth & Families Logo

We have been invited to collect personal hygiene items for children and youth who enter the Child Protective Services and Foster Care systems in Brown County this month.

Friends of Pals, Youth and Families indicates that over 300 children and youth in Brown County are in out-of-home care currently, and they often arrive in these settings with little or no personal hygiene items.

Suggestions include full-size child/youth-friendly soap, shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, deodorant, diapers, feminine hygiene products, combs & brushes, facial tissue, lotion, nail kits, Q-Tips, Vaseline, bubble bath, basic first aid supplies, hair ties/barrettes, etc.

Could you pick up a few items from this list to help vulnerable kids in our area?

A box will be available at the back of the Sanctuary for the month of June or you may leave items in the church office during the week.

Thank you for your generosity!

Letter Carriers Food Drive 2024

Cheri Simonet
Letter Carriers Food Drive

The Letter Carriers food drive is on Saturday – May 11, 2024. We need to supply two individuals to help out at the Cofrin post office that day (this is very important, as if we don’t provide people, we will not be able to participate in the food drive next year).

Volunteers are needed at 9:00am and will be given a route to pick up food on. Stephanie Fahringer and Al Smith will be loading the bags into totes but we could really use donations of paper shopping bags, preferably with handles.

We are also in need of four people to help at church at 3:00pm that day by unloading, sorting, and putting away the food that our Presbyterian Pantry receives.

Please contact Gene Stenson at 920-241-4370 if you are able to help. Thank you for your support!

Christian Educator Appreciation Sunday 2024

Cheri Simonet
Christian Educator Appreciation

Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 19th when we’ll show appreciation for our amazing Christian Educators during our 10am worship service.

On that morning, we’ll be recognizing those who have organized, led or taught various educational programs and activities for children, youth and adults through the 2023/2024 program year including Sunday School, Bible studies, devotionals and Vacation Bible School. Faith development was only possible by the following members volunteering and giving of their time, talent, and treasures, so we extend a heartfelt thank you to:

  • Brenda Hubbard
  • Lisa Olson
  • Sara Bostedt
  • Loni McCormick
  • Deb Gauthier
  • Stacy Bostedt
  • Olivia Crooks
  • Jessica Gauthier
  • Mike Melton
  • Grace Estes Collins
  • Bobbi Holl
  • Joel Morien
  • Katie Estes

These outstanding members were instrumental in cultivating and building faith which supports our efforts to achieve our mission of Inspiring All to Love and Serve with Christ.

Please join us as we celebrate and thank these leading Christian Educators who’ve made such a positive impact with the children, youth and adults in our community of faith.

Augusta Jeffrey 2024 Awarded

Cheri Simonet
Augusta W. Jeffrey Rcognition Award

Awarded April 21, 2024

The Augusta Jeffrey Award was established in 2004 by the family of long-time member Augusta Jeffrey to recognize a member of First Presbyterian for outstanding volunteer efforts and service in our church. Areas of service may include: Mission, Worship, Member Care, Christian Education, Administration, and Evangelism. Nominations are gathered in the month of February every year and the recipient is chosen in March. The recipient receives a gift of $600 from the fund established by the Jeffrey family that is allocated to an area in the church chosen by the awardee.

On Sunday, April 21st during worship, the 2024 Augusta Jeffrey Award will be presented to Becky Christianson. She was nominated by several Session members who noted her exemplary service as Clerk of Session for the last two years. She takes the minutes of each meeting and keeps the meetings on track with her knowledge of the Book of Order and Robert’s Rules of Order. She has also taken on the clean-up and rewriting of many church policies and procedure manuals, in light of recent mandates from the denomination. Becky does it all with attention to detail and dedication, but also a light heart. While much of her volunteer work is behind the scenes and not visible to the whole congregation, we all benefit from her commitment and diligence.

Thank you, Becky!

Help Us Help Women

Cheri Simonet
Esther Circle

March 1st—24th

Esther Circle meets monthly to do a study called Sacred Encounters, looking at the experiences of various people who encountered Jesus during his ministry.

One of the lessons was about the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years straight in Luke 8: 43-48. Following our discussion, we agreed that we could help women in our own community who have challenges with the expenses of feminine products, which are not normally available through food shelves.

We are collecting feminine products from March 1 to March 24 which will be donated to homeless women residing at St. John’s Women’s Shelter. We often don’t consider what it must be like for women with little or no income or a permanent place to live to find their monthly supplies.

We invite you to join us in this collection during March so we can help women in our community be comfortable and retain their dignity. A box in the back of the sanctuary will be provided for your donations of pads and tampons.

Thank you for your support!

Augusta Jeffrey 2024 Nominations Are Now Being Accepted

Cheri Simonet
Augusta W. Jeffrey Rcognition Award

Beginning February 1st thru February 29th

The Augusta Jeffrey recognition award is presented each year to a member of the congregation for outstanding volunteer efforts within the church and through its programs.

Nominations for 2024 are now being accepted throughout the month of February.

You may nominate more than one person. To be accepted for consideration, the nomination form must be filled out completely.

During the first week of March, nomination forms will be reviewed and a winner will be selected.

Winners of the Augusta Jeffrey Award designate an area of ministry in which the church is engaged that they choose to receive a financial boost.

Nominations forms can be completed and submitted online below.

Submit 2024 Augusta Jeffrey Nomination

Or, if you’d rather submit the nomination(s) offline, please complete 2024 Nomination Form that’s located in the back of the Sanctuary or you may download it below and return to the office at 200 S. Ashland Avenue, 54303 before February 29th.

Download Offline 2024 Augusta Jeffrey Nomination Form

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.

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!