Outreach
The Church
of Peace is proud to be located in Rock Island and is committed to doing
good in the community. Outreach Ministry is alive and well at the
Church of Peace and it keeps the Outreach Director Angela Richardson and the
Outreach Committee busy reaching out to our neighbors.
Programs for
The Rock Island Primary Academy
· Guest Reader program – An opportunity to read to select classes on
a weekly basis to provide support to students and teachers.
·
Positive Behavior Incentive Program – The church collects toys at
Christmas and throughout the year to help students display better
behavior in class. One student per class is chosen each week to reach
into the closet and pick a toy because of good behavior. Superintendent
Loy has affirmed this program as having a positive benefit on students
with less detentions and better academic performance.
·
The Book Nook– This is a new program where we’ll provide new
books for students to purchase at a reasonable price to encourage
reading at home.
·
Food labels – Labels from General Foods and Campbell Soup are
collected to help the school and close to $100 dollars has been raised
for education purposes and supplies.
·
Swiss
Valley Bottle Tops – We will be exploring this to further our efforts at
raising funds for the students at Hawthorn-Irving.
·
Annual Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
Diapers for Baby
Jesus
Our church
collects hundreds of diapers at Christmas time for our neighbors. This
year we also participate in the Alternate Christmas Fair at the Milan
First Presbyterian Church on Nov. 20th and received donations
for the Diaper program from that church and those who come to the fair
who wanted to give a gift of a donation rather than a material gift to
someone.
Community Issue
Involvement
The Church
of Peace has long supported the Quad City Interfaith (QCI) and
Churches United. Rev. Swartz heads up the clergy caucus and the
church supports QCI’s efforts in peace and justice issues in our area.
We are currently working with the education committee of QCI on the Rock
Island school closings. The Outreach Committee is working with the
Churches United education committee and our conference and church
support Church United financially.
Donut Day
The Church
of Peace is committed to strengthening our relationships with our neighbors by having Donut Day. The first Wednesday of the month in the morning members of the Outreach Committee supply donuts, coffee and conversation to good neighbors who wants to drop in at the church. The Outreach committee will soon be expanding Donut day to Donut DAYS. This
small change will afford community members greater flexibility to stop in and warm up with
a cup of coffee, and enjoy a piece of coffee cake or donut more frequently.
.
Emergency
Assistance
Good
neighbors call on the church and ask for food vouchers and monetary
assistance for rent, utility or deposit or any number of financial
needs. We help them through different community resources, Churches
United, and the parish nurse has also been involved to help find
resources in the medical area. Every year our neighbors have paper
product needs and the church has responded graciously to this appeal.
Work Camps
Each summer
several youth/adult groups come from other churches for a week to do
work in the Quad Cities. They work with Youth Build and Habitat for
Humanity to work on houses and other projects in the area that need
assistance. Each trip includes serving a meal for the hungry at the
First Presbyterian Church. If your church is interested in coming
during the summer, contact Rev. Swartz through the church office for
more information.
Community Caring
Conference
In the
1970s, the Church of Peace was faced with the decision of whether to
stay in the changing neighborhood or relocate outside of the city.
After studying the situation, the church made the decision to stay in
this location and launched the organization called the Community Caring
Conference. The CCC has tackled such projects as crime prevention
programs, neighborhood clean-up, street lighting, public education,
neighborhood watch groups, National Night Out, and a voice in policy
making at City Hall. For more information on how you can get involved,
contact the CCC at 309-786-0345 or
ccc@qconline.com.
If you are
interested in volunteering in any of these projects, contact
Angela
Richardson
at the church for more information.
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