February Outreach News
GAME DONATIONS
Thank you so much for your donations of games for the Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence! You brought us enough to fill four large boxes. Jennifer Holdaway took the games to school, and the students had trouble believing that people who didn’t know them would buy so many games for them. The club teacher said it made a big difference in the children’s attitudes. They wrote us a thank-you note signed by seventeen students and a teacher. Jennifer will post the note in Fox Hall.
COMMUNITY KITCHEN–New Board Members
The Kitchen voted with enthusiasm to approve our two candidates for this year’s Board: Ray Barney and Ginger Sanzo. Ray is in frequent communication with the Kitchen staff, and before the pandemic began, both she and Ginger worked to prepare and serve meals there on a regular basis. The Outreach Committee offers thanks to Johanna Miller and Brooke Montague for their CK Board service for the past several years.
CNP HAITI–We want to provide Plumpy’Nut!
Our December effort to raise money for the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti did not work as we had hoped. As we reflected on that at our February meeting, we realized that December had a lot going on, and our Fox Hall publicity was probably not seen by many parishioners. In conjunction with Black History Month, we are trying again. Please make a donation to CNP Haiti, and we will request that your money be used to buy Plumpy’Nut, the therapeutic food that can restore a child suffering from acute malnutrition back to health in a short period of time. Outreach will match your February gifts up to a total of $450. You can give either online or by check (offering plate or mail to church office). Write it to Christ Church and mark it for Outreach–CNP. Thank you for your generosity.
LET’s TALK T-SHIRTS–We have a project for you.
T-shirt production is one of the larger industries in Haiti, with garment production employing 57,000 people. Workers can expect wages of $3.50 to $7 (US Dollars) per day for their factory labor. Working conditions are difficult; workers have struggled to survive during the COVID pandemic.
T-shirts made in Haiti are shipped to the US (we have a trade agreement that was set up to benefit Haiti) and sold under the brands of Gildan, Hanes, and Walmart. At Walmart, you can buy one of them for around $5. Remember, that’s a day’s wage for the person who made your shirt.
Timberland, an ethical US company, is working to return sustainable cotton production to Haiti. Cotton was once Haiti’s fourth-largest agricultural export but the industry collapsed in the 1980s. Through efforts by Timberland, Haitians will be able to own more of the resources and retain a larger profit.
What does this have to do with Christ Church? During the month of February we are asking you to donate to one of our Outreach partners, the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti. And we thought it would be fun to learn a bit about the country where our partner is working.
This week, we have a project for you. We are asking you to count the number of t-shirts you have, then choose your own multiplier…a nickel, a dime, a dollar…and make a contribution to CNP based on your result. Make your gift to Christ Church Outreach and designate it for CNP Haiti.
While you’re counting, pull out the shirts you’d like to pass along and donate them to a place like Northside Neighborhood House or the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.
We don’t know that your contribution will directly help the person who made your shirt, but it may help their community. And this month, Outreach will match all donations up to a total of $450.