Outreach
One obligation of a church is to provide services to the community and to people who may not otherwise have access to those services. We respond to community needs both with an immediate response such as during Hurricane Harvey or as a long-term commitment as with the Sewing Guild. A high percentage of St. Mark’s parishioners are involved in community service, and we are fortunate to have people of faith who express their faith by helping others. Our community outreach ministries include:
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- Meals-on-Wheels is committed to helping seniors remain independent by enchancing their quality of life through services and resources. Parishioners help deliver the meals and also collect pet food to be delivered to senior citizens.
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- Book donations to the Fort Bend County Health Center provide reading materials for siblings of children who are patients of the pediatric clinic.
- The Pennywise Resale Shop provides families with clothing, furniture and household goods to help them start new, violence-free lives and provides a quality, reasonably priced product to the community. Parishioners of St. Mark's donate clothing and household items on an individual basis to the Pennywise Resale Shop.
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- The Richmond Fire and Police Departments and the Sugar Land Fire Department have had the benefit of receiving left over food from St. Mark's fish fries and other events.
- Graduating high school seniors receive monetary gifts from St. Mark's parishioners as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.
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- Eucharistic ministers take Holy Communion to shut-ins and ill parishioners.
- Fort Bend Family Promise provides shelter and meals for homeless working families in our county. Parishioners cooked and delivered dinner for four to five families every quarter.
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- The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is where St. Mark's parishioners donate blood.
- Hospital nurses were in need of extra support during the Covid pandemic. We delivered meals and fun gifts to ICU nurses at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Sugar Land.
- One member of our congregation donated 1,600 protective cloth masks. The majority of the masks went to the Fort Bend County Commissioner's office. Approximately 400 masks were reserved for use at St. Mark's.
- Common Threads is an oranization in the Lamar Consolidated School District that provides school uniforms, shoes and socks for the children in the district. St. Mark's had a successful fund raising campaign for this organization.
- St. Mark's participated in The One Thousand Days of Love program sponsored by the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund. Individual donations made to The One Thousand Days of Love were used by the ERD to feed and educate children in underdeveloped parts of the world.
- Parishioners of St. Mark's donated funds to purchase bedding and hygiene items for homeless individuals in the Houston area.
- Each year parishioners collect new calendars, datebooks, planners and puzzle books which are then donated to senior living facilities.