In 2020, former Pastor Jason Abbott met with the principal of Passages Elementary School, Dr. Jeremy Riggs. As Pastor Jason and Dr. Jeremy continued to have conversations about ways we could partner together, their need for space to hold the 2021 eighth-grade graduation ceremony allowed us the privilege of hosting their ceremonies in our First Free sanctuary – which we’ve continued doing each year.
However, the opportunity exists to develop a stronger relationship with Passages and this multi-ethnic community (representing families from over 30 countries around the world!) located just around the corner from our church. We’re in the process of leaning into our conversations with Passages in order to gain a better understanding of their on-going needs, and find additional ways that we might be able to continue partnering with them. One of those ways has been to collect personal care items and deliver them periodically to the school. Bring in your donations any Sunday; we’ll make sure they’re delivered!
Meanwhile, as a result of participating in 48th Ward Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s Community Based Organization effort to serve our new neighbors staying at the former Broadway Armory Shelter, we became aware of some needs at Swift Elementary School. One of the teachers, Ms. Christy Pimentel, noticed that some of her students were going hungry regularly. She began to purchase snacks out of her own pocket, which wasn’t sustainable – but she was able to continue to offer healthy snacks to her students with some help. “Snacks 4 Swift” evolved where we were able to not only provide healthy snacks throughout the school year, but we also donated food for a community spaghetti dinner, personal care items, as well as winter jackets. This past summer, we held a school supply drive to augment Swift’s back-to-school fall celebration event.
This year, in addition to continuing “Snacks 4 Swift”, we’re adding “Sox 4 Swift” as some students are going without basic clothing necessities. Please bring in your donations on any Sunday – we’ll make sure that they’re delivered!
Other needs may present themselves as we continue to look for ways to partner with these and other schools in our neighborhood; keep checking out this space in the future as these will be posted when opportunities materialize.
In the meantime: if you’re interested in tutoring, dropping off donated items at local schools, or helping by co-leading this effort, click on the “Contact Us” button below for additional information.