It’s hard to believe, but there is a community in Dallas County that has no running water. And the Episcopal Church of the Ascension is working to do something about it.

Sandbranch is an unincorporated former freedmen’s town of about 150 people in far-east Dallas County. In the 1980s their water wells became contaminated and since then residents have had to rely on bottled water for cooking, bathing, and drinking. Several efforts to bring water to the community have been unsuccessful.

A parishioner at Ascension learned of Sandbranch’s plight through a media report and brought it to the church’s Outbound Ministries committee, which unanimously voted to get involved. Jane Taber, chair of the church’s Evangelism Committee, took charge and developed a program to deliver water to the community with Pastor Ron Bivins of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Sandbranch. In the spring of 2020 Ascension made its first delivery  to the community and never has looked back.

 Every quarter (four times a year), Ascension’s parishioners bring cases of bottled water to the church or donate money to purchase it. On a Saturday morning volunteers meet at the church, at 7:00 a.m., load about 200 cases of the water into pickup trucks, SUVs and the trunks and backseats of their cars and drive it to Sandbranch, near Seagoville. After unloading the water, they leave so that volunteers from the community can distribute the water to residents and the 300+ people waiting in line to come through the weekly food bank at Mount Zion church. The most recent Ascension water delivery was Saturday, March 2. At its December delivery, Ascension also gave a $50 Walmart gift card to each Sandbranch family to purchase meat or staples that are not available from the food bank.

Working in the community is nothing new to the Church of the Ascension. The Rector, the Rev. Paul Klitzke, says, “Outbound Ministries – meeting basic human needs – and Diversity, in the broadest sense of the term, is what defines Ascension. They are at the core of our church.”   

On its campus, near Greenville and Royal Lane in northeast Dallas, the church operates the Harvest of Hope Community Garden which is open to members and non-members. Gardeners are asked to give a portion of what they grow to Ascension’s food pantry. The church’s Elane Kadane Food Pantry is open twice a month and distributes as many as 400 bags of fresh produce and food stables each week. The church also coordinates a food pantry at a nearby Middle School where it also has served as tutors and teacher-assistants.  And, once a quarter, Ascension prepares a lasagna dinner for the homeless at the Austin Street Center, and the church keeps a supply of Blessing Bags, filled with essential health and food items, for parishioners to give to people in need.

“Serving and working in the community is in Ascension’s DNA,” says Evangelism Chair Jane Taber. “When people see us serving those in need with the love of Christ, they are drawn closer to God and, perhaps, will join us in our mission to build God’s kingdom.”