Initial Round of Commitments

We had a productive meeting last Sunday (yay, us!) and agreed to support the following organizations with funding and/or volunteers this year:

Wilkinsburg Community Ministry (funding)

EECM (funding, volunteers for men's shelter meals)

Pgh Community Food Bank (funding)

Neighborhood Academy (funding, volunteers for tutoring and meal prep)

Mars Home for Youth (funding, possible 'muscles and mops' volunteers as needed)

Camp Crestfield (funding toward operating budget, volunteer support for capital campaign and of 'muscles and mops' nature as needed)

Malawi Partnership (funding)

Just Harvest (funding)

Church World Services (funding)

CROP (volunteers for walk, funding for related expenses)

Global Links (volunteers, funding for mailings to Covenant Hospital)

Action for Darfur (pending announcements re march this year -- volunteers to march, funding to sponsor march)

Hosanna Industries and Open Hand Ministries are likely to be targeted volunteer opportunities for the Muscles and Mops subcommittee.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend that Session support the single-payer healthcare overture to Presbytery.

Items for the next meeting (date to be determined):


(1) Determine funding available from Peacemaking offering for our distribution (Maggie); identify local need for funding (committee)

(2) Brief updates on status/requests (some of this may fall under Reports from Subcommittee Leaders): Goats for Rwanda, Pgh Pastoral Institute, Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition (possible move out of this committee's budget line), Habitat for Humanity info (Tom), Sojourner House info (Tom), Breachmenders (Joe/Cliff), Hazelwood Presby Church.

(3) Reports from each of the subcommittee leaders

(4) Treasurer report on amount collected from regular 'special offerings': Peacemaking, Joy, One Great Hour of Sharing, Lazarus