It is that time for my spring/summer Deacon's report for food and children's ministries in our Diocese.  We continue to serve approximately 200 families monthly at each of our sites:  St. Mark's, Mt. Pleasant, St. Mary's Irving, St. Augustine Oak Cliff, Emmanuel Anglican Garland, East Dallas refugees and our new site in Mesquite, Igbo Nigerian Community.  Our food is supplied by Sharing Life Ministries, Crossroads Ministries and weekly deliveries from St. Luke's.  We have such a wonderful community of volunteers at each site and I am blessed to work alongside these faithful friends.

Project Mangoes and Mozart:

In the Spring, we continued and expanded our music, art, ballet, and gardening programs in East Dallas, Christ Church Dallas and Emmanuel Anglican Garland.  Our children's garden at Christ Church Dallas, is producing watermelon, cucumber, peppers, corn and tomatoes.  Many thanks to Miss Becky Smith and Our Savior Community Garden for their loving support of our children's garden.

A highlight of our program was our performance at Tyler Street Tower and our special guest, Bishop Joseph Wandera, Mumias, Kenya.  During Bishop Wandera's visit, he was able to meet our refugee children from Rwanda and Kenya and minister to them in Swahili.  This was a great blessing to these families and gave them an opportunity to feel welcomed in Dallas.  We also began a music/piano program at Emmanuel Anglican with plans for a Fall performance.  And, our girls experienced a lovely JDOK spring retreat.  Many thanks to St. Andrew's McKinney for their warm welcome.  

Summer Meals:

These past two months we were able to serve 2,000 summer meals to our children in Oak Cliff and Garland.  In Oak Cliff, particularly, we had several homeless families come for meals and drink.  It was a great blessing to share resources and food with these families.  The food was supplied by Kids Bring Life and snack packs from the NTFB.  For the months ahead, I will continue to seek resources for these families without houses, as they are not adults only, but also families and children suffering.

I am so grateful for your continued support of our food ministries, and support from our donors and The Episcopal Foundation for our Mangoes and Mozart Project.  Our plan for the Fall is to continue our vibrant food distributions, prepare for our Mangoes and Mozart performances; and continue our outreach to those without houses and to our friends in Kenya and Tanzania.

Your servant, mtumishi wako, en Cristo!

Debra