MISSION & OUTREACH - A LAY-DRIVEN MINISTRY

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2024 

BACKPACK DONATION

$500 donated to Wethersfield Social Services Back to School Program

LENTEN COLLECTION UPDATE

Vickie, Barbar & Denise reported collecting 705 SNAP & Non-SNAP items and $100 in grocery gift cards during our 2024 Lenten Food Drive.

HOLIDAY COLLECTION UPDATE

Approximately 220 SNAP & Non-SNAP items and $250 in grocery gift cards were collected.  Thank you everyone!

FUEL BANK DONATION

$1500 donated to help our neighbors in need

 June 16 - August 25 Summer Snack Collection Charles Wright Elementary School has a weekend meal program for students and their families to provide food for days that school is not in session. Trinity has provided a room in the Parish Hall for the school to store the collected food items and to prepare the weekend distribution. 

230+ snack bags of chips and cookies

40+ cans of vegetables

50+ cans and snack packs of fruit.

Over 325 items collected

This newly formed ministry sends cards & provides meals for parishioners in need.  Contact Barbara Cosgrove (arnoldcosgrove@gmail.com) to become part of this ministry or to request cards or meals for a parishioner. 

Sean's Closet partners with Wethersfield Social Services to collect clothing and household goods for those in need.

Currently collecting winter clothes & coats

Contact Connie Harasymiw at connie1411@aol.com,

May 2024

Carload of baby clothes from a donation to Sean's Closet and the Wethersfield Mom's Club was delivered to Friendship House

The purpose of the Keane Foundation is to provide a safe and fun environment where youth come together to participate in athletic, academic, and social programs with the support and guidance of caring adults. 

Trinity supports the Keane on Kids After School Enrichment Programs, which are held at 5 Elementary Schools and the Middle School.  Students can choose from a variety of enrichment activities, to learn a new skill or to advance their knowledge of a particular area, like Chess, Cooking, Fashion Design, Athletics, Science/Stem, Financial Resilience and many more.  

2023

Trinity donated $500 to support this program.

Meets Thursdays in the Seabury Room

1:00-3:00

 The group knits prayer shawls, and hats for premature infants in the NICU as well as blankets, scarves and other assorted items. 

It's a time to share books and puzzles and conversation. Contact Connie Harasymiw (connie1411@aol.com) for more information.

2024 - 16 Prayer Squares donated as part of Middlesex Hospice fleece blankets donation

Community Dinners

2024 Dates: 

9/23, 11/25 

Trinity partners with Hands On Hartford to prepare and serve 80-100 community meals for the needy 5-6 times each year.  For more information on donating food items or serving at the dinners contact Warren or Lynda Blessing at ctvalleywc@yahoo.com

July 22, 2024

Our goal had been 100 people for dinner and the actual attendance had been falling. Well last night it jumped back up over 105. We were short on our helpers due to vacations and such, so those there, worked extra hard. We were very grateful for everyone that helped and put forth such great effort last night. 

May 27, 2024

  On Memorial Day, several people from Trinity joined around fifty volunteers to help prepare and serve a meal of cheeseburgers, hot dogs, beans, coleslaw and fresh fruit to an estimated 400 guests! And there was ice cream for dessert!  We helped to decorate the rooms in red, white, and blue and put out lots of fruit and snacks for the guests as they waited for the main meal.  Warren and Sarah Blessing were working in the kitchen, Carol Jones and Ginger Smith were serving the meals, and Paul Milne was carrying out meals to those who preferred to eat at home. It was an exhausting day, but full of joy and thankfulness. 

March 25, 2024

 Last evening we had a very good group (70+)  of local families who came to take part in our Dinner at Hands on Hartford. 

Jan. 22, 2024

80 Meals served

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This ministry features an outdoor church service in Bushnell Park followed by food distribution on Saturdays.  A team from Trinity provides bagged lunches 4 to 5 Saturdays per year ($600 from Outreach Fund subsidizes cost of lunches)

Noon: sandwich-making in parish hall. 

2 pm: Holy Eucharist service in Bushnell Park

Followed by: lunch distribution

2024 Schedule: 

Oct., 5, 2024

41 lunches served

May 4, 2024 

45 lunches served

  April 7, 2024                                                                           34 lunches served

January 2024

 On behalf of the Middlesex Health’s Hospice Program, we cannot thank you enough to all who participated in making blankets and donating baking goods. Also, we wish to thank  Friends and Needles’ for their donation of  prayer squares.  We could not carry out this mission without your support and ongoing commitment to serve.

In total we are donating 17 blankets, 42 baking goods, and 16 prayer squares.

We are grateful and humbled by your generosity.

 The agency provides a continuum of services for men, women and children who are at risk or experiencing homelessness in Central Connecticut. Services range from an emergency shelter to transitional living programs, supportive housing options, and... also offers lunch to the community each day in the Tomasso Family Community Kitchen. 

May 2024

Carload of baby clothes from a donation to Sean's Closet and the Wethersfield Mom's Club was donated to the Friendship Center

 Refugee Resettlement 

Trinity formed a coalition with three local churches and IRIS to sponsor a Syrian family. The family arrived in Connecticut September of 2023 and is currently self-sufficient with minimal support from COTW.

 Please welcome Omar, Khadija, and their 3 teenage sons - Rafi, Rayan and Rayd.

 Nine years ago, they escaped war-torn Syria and moved to Turkey. While there, they registered as refugees and waited seven years before being allowed to enter the United States.

 In September of 1992, COTW volunteers met them at the airport and helped them settle in to their new life in Connecticut.

2023

Trinity donated $1900 in support.

August 2023 family update

Omar works full-time at Amazon and volunteers for overtime whenever it is available. He’s also checking into the requirements for a Commercial Driver’s License.

Khadija has a few more weeks left in her training to become a Personal Care Assistant. She’s an excellent student and she’s made great progress in speaking and understanding English.

During the summer the two youngest sons, Rayan and Rayd, spent 1/2 days in school at Hartford High and 1/2 days working with the Hartford Youth Employment Program. In September, they will attend Wethersfield High School. 

Rafi, the oldest son, will remain at Hartford High School where he hopes to graduate next June. This summer, he plans to attend school and work part time.

The car has been invaluable to the family. It’s reinforced and enhanced their sense of independence and self-sufficiency. Omar drives 20 minutes to work instead of commuting by bus over an hour each way. 

Omar and Khadija are keenly aware of the help we have given them in terms of time, talent and treasure. And they are deeply grateful. Khadija asks that you share the following with your congregations.

“Starting over is not easy but when people appear on your way to stand by your side, people whose hearts are filled with humanity and love for others even without personal knowledge of them, this is something that proves their nobility and generosity and moral character. Thank you for being there in our first steps to build our new life. Thank you for your support. For me and my family, I will not forget what you have done for us and I wish, in my name and in the name of every member of my family, that you will always be a source of happiness and inspiration for everyone. With my sincere respect and appreciation to everyone, I am Khadija Suliman.”
The family is a blessing: smart, resourceful, hardworking and are anxious to become self-sufficient. Please keep them in your prayers.

The parish purse ministry fills purses/bags with toiletries and other items that are distributed to people who are experiencing homelessness or transitioning from a shelter to living on their own.  

Contact Sue Rafala for more information.

 skraf622@gmail.com 

2023

 51 purses distributed, including a donation of 31 bags to Lunch in the Park 

Stop & Shop Gift Cards

May 12-June 16

The Outreach Committee would like to thank everyone for their generous donation of gift cards to Stop and Shop for Disabled American Veterans.  The cards were accepted with a big thanks and much appreciation.  The final total was 36 cards with a value of $960.  The gift cards will help those who sacrifice everything for our country and freedom.  

2023 - Donations & Activities

American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem - $1200

Camp Washington - $500 donation

Connecticut Foodshare - $1000 donation

End Hunger New England - volunteers to pack food supplies for Haiti

SOUP TO GO

Ginger Smith raises funds by making and selling soups, jams, relishes and more to benefit the Copprome Orphanage in Honduras. She travels to Honduras twice a year to provide food, friendship and gifts for the children. For more information about Soup-To-Go or the Copprome Orphanage, contact Ginger at ginger43@cox.net, 

Your support for these children is greatly appreciated  

2024 Soup-T0-Go

Sunday October 6

9-12 in the Parish Hall

3/10 - $1005 / 10/6 - 

2023 donations total = $1300

 3/5 - $600 / 10/15 - $700

The mission of St. Vincent's is to provide special education opportunities and life skills training to children with disabilities in Haiti.  Located in Port-Au-Prince, the school serves deaf, blind and physically challenged students.

Trinity has been a long-time supporter of St. Vincent's. In 2021, Trinity partnered with the Diocese of Connecticut to provide a $10,750 grant to install a solar energy system and upgrade medical records to help the school serve students more efficiently in the midst of crises in Haiti.

2024

$3000 awarded towards a Sustainable Grant (Diocesan) for durable medical equipment. This year the center was destroyed by gangs and is currently in the process of setting up a clinic in a new location.

2023

Trinity donated $1500 to support this cause.

 (KMS) Kateri Medical Services was founded by our former pastor, Rev. Thomas Furrer, in 2003 to bring “simple, decent and affordable medical care to the rural and urban poor” in Nigeria. Our parishioners help support KMS which currently operates six clinics.

 2023

Concert by The Tapestry Singers Sunday June 25 raised more than $5,600 to support this medical mission.

Scholarships for Students in Diocese of Kafanchan We sponsor scholarships for 60 needy students in five different diocesan schools. A $100 scholarship pays for tuition, books uniforms and meals for one year.

Click here for a short documentary video, on our Mission & Outreach page, from Bishop Dogo about the Anglican schools in Nigeria.

2024

$5400 for 18 scholarships raised

2023 

  Nigerian Scholarship Fund raised $4,000 for

40 children to be able attend school for 1 year. 

 AEP was founded by two of our church members to build schools in Nigeria. They have built or refurbished six schools which serve hundreds of students.

2023 update

Trinty donated $1200 to support this program.