Social Action

FOOD MINISTRY SUNDAY IS MAY 4: Thank you for your continued help with our food ministries! Our next Food Ministry Sunday is May 4. The Howard Food Bank accepts food donations that help keep families fed in our area. Our outdoor food pantry continues to be a great service to the community. Monetary and/or food donations of all kinds are appreciated. Checks for the Howard Food Bank may be made out to Howard Food Bank. Checks to help our food pantry may be made out to St. Mark Lutheran and on the memo line write, “Outdoor Pantry.” You also can give online using our online giving platform Tithely. Visit https://bit.ly/3bhr907. Thank you again for your ongoing generosity!

HELP FOOD PANTRY DURING CENTRE GIVES: The St. Mark Food Pantry will be part of this year’s Centre Gives, an online fundraising effort for various nonprofits in Centre County. St. Mark is raising money for the outdoor food pantry. The completely online event goes from 8am May 14 to 8pm May 15. To donate to the food pantry during this time, visit centregives.org and search St. Mark Food Pantry. There is a minimum $10 donation. If you do not have a way to go on to the website, you also can donate by calling 814-237-6229.

As an extra benefit, any organization that participates automatically receives a share of a stretch pool. The amount of the share is based on the total donated to the organization during the 36 hours.

Thanks for your continued support of the food pantry. If you have any questions, contact Pastor David.

PEANUT BUTTER EASTER EGGS WERE A HIT!: The peanut butter eggs fundraiser was a huge success! Thank you for purchasing eggs, and thank you to those that took eggs to sell at your workplace. We appreciate your help. While we lost count, somewhere around 500 eggs were made and sold. It was fun and we enjoyed working together.

YARD SALE REPORT: The Snydertown Yard Sale was held on April 10-12. Although the weather wasn't great outside, it was warm, dry, and busy inside St. Mark’s Fellowship Room. The funds raised were split between the Social Action Committee and the outdoor Food Pantry. Leftover items were donated to the UCC of Tylersville for its summer yard sale. Thank you to all of the volunteers that made the sale a success. And a special thank you goes out to the Nittany Valley Fire Company for their donation of clam chowder.

FUTURE EVENTS: Some events to note that will be happening in the fall are the annual Free Book Fair & Costless Closet event on September 20, and St. Mark is bringing back its Holiday Open House on December 6. More details will be coming for both events.

SERVICE AND SNACKS: For the May meeting of St. Mark’s youth service club — Service and Snacks (SAS) — the group will be making “portable gardens” during the church picnic. The group will be filling buckets with a mixture of topsoil and compost to make a

happy home for a homegrown tomato plant. These “portable gardens” will then be placed at the food pantry to help others “grow” in their ability to provide healthy food for themselves. If you know of any possible service projects for kids or if you have a young person interested in participating, contact Pastor David.