NEWS RELEASE
ST. DAVID ANGLICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH
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When the faith community of St. David Anglican Lutheran church received a surprise gift of a grant, they unanimously agreed to share their blessing.
COVID-19 put a full stop to St David's free Sunday morning breakfast shared with neighbours. Physical distancing and health requirements are currently not possible.
“Many families broke bread with us every week and missing this one meal is a huge hit to their weekly budgets. Not to mention the loss of being able to physically gather with our community," said Rev Lori Pilatzke, Pastor and faith leader at St David.
“We pivoted to find ways we could provide support with our community partners,” she added.
St David's now hangs masks, free to neighbours, on a Warming Cross located outside their building at the corner of Regent and James Streets in Orillia.
The church's Outreach committee prepares a simple lunch for the lunch guests at the Lighthouse on Peter Street. And Harmony Centre, free one-to-one counselling sessions are back to in-person as well as Zoom and phone.
"When we received an unexpected ‘pandemic’ grant of $2,400 from Canadian Lutheran World Relief, we unanimously supported a motion to give $1,000 to the Sharing Place Food Bank," said Outreach committee member Sandy Donald.
"Right now, the food bank is focused on feeding families and focusing on school breakfasts. We always seek ways to partner with others who share our love," she noted.
The Sharing Place Food Bank’s ‘School Fuel’ program is now in 16 schools in Orillia, and feeds over 1,000 children every day.
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