St. Mary’s Outreach Committee is excited to announce that the grant application process for 2022 has concluded with great success by approving over $60,000 in grants! These grants offer encouragement and support for all the amazing work these Outreach Partners continue to do to serve our greater community. At this time, $30,500 was awarded to the following organizations: CARITAS, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, Gateway Homes Inc., GoochlandCARES, Goochland Family YMCA, Peter Paul Development Center, and St. Andrew's School.

At St. Mary's, one aspect of the Outreach Committee's work is being good stewards of the gifts that God has given each of us to be offered for the well-being of our community in support of the church's mission around our community. We are going forward on faith that we will gather gifts sufficient to award the rest of the grant money later in the year.

The Outreach Ministry Committee is continuing to offer an opportunity to assist GoochlandCARES in their Clothes Closet. Depending on the size of the group (ideally need about 5 to 6 people), it only takes about an hour or two. The next volunteer opportunity at GoochlandCARES is scheduled for this Sunday, June 12 at 11:30 a.m. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Dick Thomas at nvvserv@icloud.com or (804)-432-4158, and then simply head out to GoochlandCARES (2999 River Road W).

Thank you to everyone who picked up a blue bag or a list with the needs for the GoochlandCARES Food Pantry this past Sunday.

Click this link to see the full list. Some items they request are:

We are collecting items through Monday, June 27. Drop items in the grocery cart located on Sundays in the Narthex and outside the Parish Office during the week. St. Mary's 4th & 5th graders participating in VBS On-the-Go will deliver the food to GoochlandCARES on Tuesday, June 28. Please email Ashley Cameron for more information.

St. Mary’s Outreach Committee is excited to announce they are bringing BBQ & Brews back this fall! Save the date for Friday, November 4, 2022 (and pray for warmer weather)! All funds raised at this event entirely support the Outreach Ministry. If you are interested in being a member of the planning committee, please reach out to Ashley Cameron at acameron@stmarysgoochland.org.

Consider joining the Hope on the Ground Short-Term Mission Experience with Education Equals Hope (E=H) to Quito, Ecuador this Spring. A Hope on the Ground experience gives you the opportunity to become the “hands and feet” of Education Equals Hope. As E=H says, “On our Short-Term Missions Experiences, you’ll meet and serve with some of the most impoverished children in the world. All our Short-Term Missions Experiences give participants a chance to develop a deeper level of compassion and servant hearts.”

The dates are November 9-16, 2022. Learn more by watching a beautiful highlight video of the January 2020 experience. If you would like to say 'yes!' to this experience, email Ashley Cameron to learn about next steps and more details.

Outreach Partner Peter Paul Development Center sends out a monthly volunteer newsletter. They recently wrote, “Volunteers are vital to Peter Paul- whether working one-on-one with a student, or helping at a community event, your support helps turn our mission into a tangible reality for the students, families, and community members we serve.” Since the pandemic, a number of volunteer opportunities were on pause but are now resuming. Ongoing opportunities include food distribution workers, Children’s Garden volunteer, senior citizens program assistant, tutoring, and much more. Check out their newsletter and website to learn more! Or email their volunteer coordinator, Joy Gilchrist, to learn more or volunteer.

"The YMCA makes strengthening our communities our cause. We strongly believe that children who have the necessities they need to succeed can focus on learning rather than worrying about having shoes to wear on the playground and crayons to color their assignments. Though our 2021 program will look different, the Y is bringing Bright Beginnings to our families who need it most to make for confident and prepared kids on the first day of school." Goochland Family YMCA, one of our Outreach Community Partners, has the opportunity to provide a Bright Beginning for children in Goochland County. 

For a donation of $150, a child will receive the “full kit” of back-to-school readiness items mentioned above. Financial donations can be made through this link: https://www.ymcarichmond.org/donate. Please include "YMCA Bright Beginnings" in the comment section.

In addition, beginning in the next couple of weeks, you can pick up a backpack tag with a list of supplies in the Narthex. Attach the tag to the backpack filled with supplies and return it by Monday, July 18, 2022.

Or, contact Jan Kenney, Goochland YMCA Executive Director at kennyj@ymcarichmond.org or (804) 556-9887 to learn about others ways you can participate by volunteering or filling a backpack.