Li'l Dab Food Pantry

Li’L Dab is an ongoing collection effort to benefit to benefit the Food Pantry at Ward Chapel, one of the oldest African American churches in Winter Park and a Second Harvest community partner. FCCWP supports the Ward Chapel food pantry with the donation of money, non-perishable food and (new) personal care items.  

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The Board of Outreach and Social Justice also collaborates with Spirit Keepers and FCCWP Women Come Alive to participate in the "Basket Brigade" collection of  Thanksgiving meal baskets.

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Out of the Closet Thrift Store

A new project for us in 2023 was collecting clothing donations for Out of the Closet Thrift Store (OTC). OTC was founded in 1990 to help raise funds and awareness for AIDS Healthcare Foundation.  96 percent of every dollar made at OTC goes to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s AIDS prevention and treatment services.  

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Family Promise

This is a joint effort between St. Richard’s and our church along with Family Promise of Greater Orlando, an organization that houses and feeds acutely homeless families while they get back on their feet with jobs and permanent housing.  FCCWP members prepare and serve dinner for the guests and volunteers 12 nights each year, in March, May, August and November.  The church volunteers join the families and volunteers for the meals on site and clean up after the meal.

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Earth Day

The Outreach and Social Justice Board coordinates the FCCWP  booth at the Central Florida Earth Day celebration at Lake Eola.  We use this opportunity to chat with attendees and discuss with them our church’s commitment to environmental justice. The Earth Day festival is a time for self education as well as educating others about ways we can each be involved in environmental issues.

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We have also hosted Lee Lines, PhD, from Rollins College’s Environmental Studies department, to speak to our church in fellowship hall about five ways that the average person can work to save our planet. Representatives from the Sustainability Department at the City of Winter Park also spoke to us about the city’s recycling and sustainability efforts.  Board members presented posters about fast fashion, food waste, and ways we can nurture our planet.

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Freedom Ride

Our board collected donations for and attended an information session about Freedom Ride this past June.  Freedom Ride is dedicated to enriching the lives of children and adults with disabilities in the Central Florida area through therapeutic horseback riding and related activities. 

 

RIP Medical Debt

There has been much in the news in the past few years about the devastation of medical debt for American families. In August of 2023  the FCCWP Outreach Board partnered with Winter Park Presbyterian and All Saints Episcopal to collect donations for RIP Medical Debt which is 501c3 non-profit organization that buys medical debt for pennies on the dollar. With our local campaign between the three churches we were able to purchase $7,016,206.71 in medical debt for 4,128 people in the Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Brevard , Highlands and Polk Counties.

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US Hunger

For many years our church has supported US Hunger, formerly known as Feeding Children Everywhere.  This organization partners with Daily Bread – Orlando to put together simple food packets to send to those suffering from food insecurity in our local area.  Each year we purchase the items that go into the food packets and then church members work assembly-line fashion to put together over 10,000 meal packages.

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Come out With Pride

Each October we participate in the Come Out with Pride Orlando event at Lake Eola.  In our booth, volunteers talk with Pride participants about our church’s open and affirming mission We also march in the parade to show our support, love, and affirmation of our LGBTQ+ members and the greater community.

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Angel Tree

Each year the Outreach Board organizes our church’s Angel Tree program which collects gifts for children at Great Oaks Village residential foster home, baskets of household necessities for youth aging out of the foster care program, and gift cards for LGBTQ young people served by Zebra Youth.

In addition to the programs mentioned above, the Outreach and Social Justice Board helps with VBS outreach efforts, and set-up, serving or clean-up for various church functions.