Serving Our Neighbors

ST. PHILIP’S OUTREACH PROGRAMS

Volunteer Opportunities

Check back here for upcoming volunteer opportunities!

HUDSON VALLEY LOCAL OUTREACH

JAN PEEK SHELTER

Jan Peek House Shelter is a Westchester County Department of Social Services-funded 24-hour, 365-days a year shelter for single adult men and women. They provide supportive case management services for clients to develop an independent living plan that focuses on obtaining housing and supportive services such as medical, behavioral, employment and educational. Jan Peek drop-in services provide shelter, food and limited supportive services for homeless adult men and women, particularly during inclement weather. In 2019 they added robust case management services to assist their drop-in clients with accessing the housing and support services they need. Averaging 35 residents per night, plus drop ins, the shelter serves three meals per day to the hungry. St. Philip’s prepares and serves dinner on the third Monday of every month. All are invited to contribute to this ministry by preparing casseroles, delivering the meals to the shelter and/or serving.

PHILIPSTOWN FOOD PANTRY

The Philipstown Food Pantry, which supports the hungry in our community, is housed at Philipstown Presbyterian Church in Cold Spring. The pantry accepts donations on Fridays from 12 noon to 1 PM and on Saturdays from 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM before distributing food to clients later on Saturday mornings. St. Philip’s accepts donations for the pantry at any time in boxes on the Parish House porch, in the church narthex or shop online via Instacart and the groceries will be delivered directly from the Foodtown in Cold Spring to the Philipstown Food Pantry. (Directions for Instacart) Contact Peg Moran or Chuck Linsmeier for further details. The food will be blessed in church on the first Sunday service of every month, before delivery.

HEDGEWOOD MINISTRY

In 1998, our rector and a parishioner created a worship ministry at the Hedgewood Assisted Living Facility for adults with disabilities in Beacon. Twice per month, St. Philip’s leads worship services at Hedgewood. In addition to these Sunday services, St. Philip’s also supports Hedgewood through our outreach at Christmas time and at other times throughout the year.

Contact: Joe Plummer (Sunday Services)

This wonderful image captures Sue MacLean helping a group of San Miguel middle school students in an after-school project. Volunteers like Sue make the middle school experience for Newburg inner-city teens special and enriching.

EDUCATION IN NEWBURGH

San Miguel Academy is an independent, innovative, nonprofit middle school serving inner City Newburgh. Its mission: “breaking the cycle of poverty through education.” This wonderful Middle School of 70 students which follows students into high school and beyond is the brainchild of Father Mark Connell. Volunteers from St Philips have been helping San Miguel thrive for the past ten years. Volunteers provide weekly tutoring sessions, as well as a variety of clubs: book club, film club, financial literacy, hiking and cooking, as well as coaching on interview skills.

Contact: Jim Bopp or Joe Plummer

NEW YORK STATE OUTREACH

RURAL AND MIGRANT MINISTRY, CORNWALL ON HUDSON, NY

Rural and Migrant Ministry is a statewide organization, established 40 years ago to address the needs of New York rural migrant farm workers and their families. Their emphasis is on advocacy to change the New York State Labor Laws that excluded migrant farm workers, and services for farm workers and their families, with a strong focus on youth leadership and development. Volunteer work has focused on workdays at the RMM campus, attending advocacy, public relations and fund-raising events, consulting on fund raising, governance and public relations.

Contact: Peg Moran

MIDNIGHT RUN

St. Philip's began our partnership with our friends at the First Presbyterian Church in Cold Spring and the Midnight Run organization in 2014.

Midnight Run is a volunteer organization dedicated to finding common ground between the housed and the homeless. Midnight Run coordinates over 1,000 relief missions per year, in which volunteers from churches, synagogues, schools and other civic groups distribute food, clothing, blankets and personal care items to the homeless poor on the streets of New York City. The late-night relief efforts create a forum for trust, sharing, understanding and affection. That human exchange, rather than the exchange of goods, is the essence of the Midnight Run mission.

Midnight Run is not a solution to homelessness. Our goal is to forge a bond between housed and homeless people by establishing a foundation of sharing and caring from which solutions may evolve. Through Midnight Run, volunteers come to see people on the streets as real people, not a commodity. And homeless men and women interact with mainstream adults and teenagers whose commitments and concerns go beyond their own lives and families. To learn more about the mission, history, and general activities of the nonprofit organization Midnight Run, please visit www.midnightrun.org. Any questions can be directed to Terri Akbas. Thank you!

Contact: Terri Akbas

Naomi Lawrence, Innerchange in East Harlem, is a Fiber Artist, or “yarn bomber”, beautifying the neighborhood by adorning chain link fences with stunningly colorful crocheted creations.

INNERCHANGE, EAST HARLEM, NEW YORK

InnerChange is a ministry that has been connecting with seniors at the Gaylord White Houses, a 20 floor New York City Housing Authority apartment building in East Harlem, NYC. All 287 residents are seniors but there are no easily available common spaces to encourage community building activities. There are opportunities for St. Philip's to join InnerChange in building relationships with and transforming the lives of these residents.

Contact: Rev. Amanda Eiman

INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH

ST. JAMES SCHOOL IN LELAN, KENYA

St. Philip's Church applied for and received a $15,000 grant from the Episcopal Diocese of New York's 2021 Sustainable Development Goals Fund. This grant funding has been sent to St. James School in Kenya to support the construction of 2 dormitories for girls grades 5-8, with capacity to board 100-200 girls. This partnership creates the platform for these two Episcopal churches, thousands of miles apart, to join in prayer and fellowship, to further learn about each other, and to share in God's love and grace in the world. We look forward to building our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Kenya in the months and years to come.