Our Efforts to Serve "the least"

Shop 'N Drop
​Feeding the Hungry

Shop 'N Drop is a program started by Elizabeth Gumbis in 2015. The program is intended to assist food insecure families at Alcott Elementary School, in Pontiac with enough food to cover their weekend needs. The programs focuses on weekends because most children at Alcott can receive free breakfast and lunch at school during the school year, but there is often little or no food for the weekends.  It is essential then that we offer healthy food to keep those families fed when they are away from school.  

Those participating in Shop 'N Drop are asked to buy enough food for ten families, spending a total of $100, or $10 per family.  The shoppers then either drop the food at Alcott on Thursdays or find someone to drop it for them.  ​​The Social Worker at the school, identifies families in need and then distributes the food accordingly.  Shop 'N Droppers can then turn in their receipts and be reimbursed for their expenditure.  In the 2018-2019 school year, this food made a difference in the lives of 104 children.  We know that it matters to the families because the children are always excited to get the food and the parents are always appreciative. 

You can help by signing up to Shop 'N Drop, to Shop or Drop (partnering with someone else). To find out how to participate contact the church office.

You can make donations to help keep the program running by 

• make a check payable to First Presbyterian Church and simply put Thika Water Project in the memo line. 
• contribute online to this cause, click here and choose Alcott Shop 'N Drop from the drop down menu, or
• text your contribution amount followed by the word ALCOTT (ex: $50 alcott) to 248-600-4919. 

You can view the complete sermon by clicking here​.

Thika Water Project
Giving a Cup of Water

              East Africa is one of the areas most affected by a lack of available clean water.  In Kenya, two of the rural areas most affected are Kwa Mukasa and Kitui.  The situation in both locations is that water is scarce most of the year.  The rivers and streams dry up soon after the rainy season.  This forces the women in the villages to walk up to ten kilometers to obtain water.  They must do this several days a week.  Because the women are seeking water, it means that the children must look after each other, preventing them from going to school.  It also means that women are not able to assist in the fields, with the livestock or with creating their own small businesses.  In addition, the water that they obtain is often unclean, which causes all the people of the village to become ill.  

         The Presbytery of Detroit’s Thika Water Project decided to do something about this.  They raised money from the presbytery’s budget, individuals and congregations to build a well. Our First Foundation, created by gifts from members of our congregation, donated $10,000 or almost 20% of the cost of the well.  The well is so expensive because to reach water, the well needs to go as deep as 300 meters.  Once water was struck, a pump house was built, a holding tank put on the roof, solar panels and an electric 

generator were installed, and the water began flowing.  The water has improved the health of the community (as one community leader put it...our children no longer get sick), allowed for community gardens, the expansion of schooling opportunities (a new intermediate school was built, and a high school is planned) and many of the women are starting home based businesses to bring in money for their families.  Currently the Thika team has raised most of the money for the second well at Kitui, again with a $10,000 donation from First Foundation.​

​You can view the complete sermon by clicking here
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            If you would like to assist with this project, which includes not only the well, but many ancillary projects such as piping to the schools and gardens, books for the new schools and assistance with well-upkeep, you can send a check payable to The Presbytery of Detroit , Mission Treasury, 17575 Hubbell St Detroit, MI  48235 with THIKA PARTNERSHIP (KENYA WATER WELLS) in the memo line.  In this way you will be partner in changing people’s lives by offering the thirsty a cup of water. 

The Welcome Inn
​Welcoming the Stranger

In 2002, two men in Royal Oak, MI, died from exposure during the winter because they had no warm place to stay during the day.  That caused members of local congregations to consider ways to address this issue.  The result was The Welcome Inn. In 2003, The Welcome Inn Day Center began offering a safe, warm place for our least fortunate neighbors to get a warm meal and a change of clothes. This small program evolved into what it is today, a comprehensive offering of services including: 

basic needs, of food, daily shelter, clothes, showers, laundry, computer and telephone access; Health and Wellness services including: on-site nurses and educational instruction, 12-step based recovery programs, yoga, mentoring services; Case work assistance offered by a Social Worker skilled at helping our guests access the services needed to help them not only survive but succeed; Housing Assistance which helps individuals and families find permanent housing.

Welcome Inn is run without State or County funding, depending entirely on the help of community-members, area churches and civic groups.  Averaging 65 people each day, December-March, Welcome Inn works diligently to ameliorate the struggles and suffering of our community's most marginalized citizenry via collaborative partnerships with area service-providers at a safe, comfortable and centralized location. You can help by making a donation, or volunteering.  You can find out more at www.sochwit.org

You can view the complete sermon by clicking here

N.O.D.A. (No One Dies Alone)
Caring for the Sick

For many people, their last few days or hours of life are spent surrounding by family and friends, where the love of those that they know fills their dying moments.  For other people, this is not so.  There are those who have no family or friends to be with them, or their family cannot get to their bedside or there is estrangement, or perhaps their death comes so suddenly that no one can travel quickly enough to be present.  It is in these cases that N.O.D.A. volunteers become the loving companionship that might not otherwise be present at the time of death.

No One Dies Alone (NODA)  provides emotional support to patients who would otherwise be alone at the time of their deaths. Volunteers offer a comforting presence to patients that are expected to pass away within 48-72 hours.  Volunteers go through and extensive training program in order to be comfortable with sitting with those who are dying and to be present with a clear mind and an open heart. The volunteers are on call for service, usually serving two hour shifts which may involve holding the hands of the patient, soothing rubs of arms or foreheads, reading aloud, playing soothing music, and saying reassuring words.

Persons interested in learning more about NODA or becoming a volunteer at Beaumont Royal Oak, may contact Kevin Hickey at 248-551-1338 or by email at kevin.hickey@beaumont.org.

​You can view the complete sermon by clicking here.

Open Door at Fort Street Presbyterian Church
​Clothing the Naked

For more than 50 years, Fort Street Presbyterian Church’s Open Door Program has been a beacon of hope for those most in need in our downtown Detroit neighborhood. We feed nearly 1,000 people each month, provide hot showers, fresh clothing, social service referrals, medical and dental screenings, flu shots, eye glasses, and health care information.  But, most of all, we provide hope.

Every Thursday, we open our doors to serve a hearty meal to more than 200 people who are homeless, need a hot meal or just want to enjoy the camaraderie and support of others. Hot showers, clothing and support services resources are also available.  We also offer a Soup and Sharing Session on Wednesdays.  Guests participate in small-group faith sharing, pray together and support each other with advice and words of encouragement.
Food boxes are prepared bi-weekly for individuals and families who are food insecure.  Pickup is on a designated day and time.  Recipients are referred by churches, schools or agencies; self-referrals from those in need are also accepted.
Volunteer opportunities are available in food serving, the clothing closet and in administrative support.  Contact open-door@fortstreet.org, or call 961-4533, x107, for more information about volunteering.  Click here for their brochure.

​You can view the complete sermon by clicking here.

Crossroads Prison Ministries and Prison Fellowship
​Visiting the Prisoner

Crossroads Prison Ministries catalyzes Christ-centered mentoring relationships between people in prison and volunteers from churches throughout the world. The unlikely relationships formed through studying the Bible together and exchanging letters transform both those inside and outside prison walls. For those who are locked up, experiencing the love of a mentor is metamorphic. The mentors’ encouraging and guiding words have a deep impact, providing a vivid picture of the unconditional love of Jesus. 

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​Volunteers who have been Christians for decades are transformed as well, discovering renewed purpose and excitement as they make an eternal difference in the life of someone previously thought to be discardable. 
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Crossroads Prison Ministries embraces those behind bars as brothers and sisters in Christ. Through a relationship with Jesus Christ and the loving example of their mentors, Crossroads students can become agents of hope and change within correctional facilities. As they engage in Bible study with their mentors, leaders are identified and deployed. This causes cell blocks, day activity rooms and entire prison facilities to be transformed into healthy, vibrant communities of faith. As these same leaders are released back into their communities, they bring positive change and revival to the churches that receive them. While that is happening in the free world, those who will never be released are providing a foundation on which the church inside prison walls is built.  You can find out more at www.cpminnistries.org

Prison Fellowship believes that a restorative approach to prisoners, former prisoners, and all those affected by crime and incarceration can make communities safer and healthier. Our ministry is founded on the conviction that all people are created in God's image and that no life is beyond God's reach. As Christians, we believe that Jesus — Himself brought to trial, executed, buried, and brought to life again — offers hope, healing, and a new purpose for each life. He can make even the most broken people and situations whole again. Through an amazing awakening to new hope and life purpose, those who once broke the law are transformed and mobilized to serve their neighbors, replacing the cycle of crime with a cycle of renewal.  You can find out more at www.prisonfellowship.org

You can view the complete sermon by clicking here