Mission Trip 2012
NYC Clothing Distribution
DATES: August 16-19 or August 23-26—we will have a firm date in early February
COST: Travel expenses to NYC, lunch and dinner on days we aren’t helping with the distribution, and any sightseeing expenses. We are welcome to stay for 7 days and spend 3 of those days exploring NYC.
BACKGROUND INFO: In 2011, Castleton Hill Moravian Church assisted 361 family units and 1032 individuals. The church collects clothes from the four NY Moravian Churches and the Castleton Hill Moravian Preschool March through May and then distributes it in August. We would help serve people during the actual distribution.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Wednesday:
Boy Scout Troop 26 helps move tables, supplies, and boxes of clothing over to Brighton Heights Reformed Church where they hold the distribution. This church is located just a block from Hospitality House, a shelter for women and children, and several other agencies. Brighton Heights is also centrally located close to the Staten Island Ferry and major bus lines.
Thursday:
Transform the gym into a department store by putting up tables, unloading the boxes, and putting clothes on the clothing racks. It’s a full days worth of work to get ready.
Friday:
Open to clients from several agencies, particularly Arbor, a back to work agency that sends many adults looking for interview and work clothes. During the day, families gather in the Fellowship Hall of the church and snacks are provided to them while they wait their turn to look for clothing in the gym. A volunteer or “personal shopper” takes each client into the gym to pick out clothing. With the clothes organized on the tables and racks and volunteers to assist, things move along fairly quickly.
Saturday:
Open to the public and serve families from all over Staten Island. For the last two years, families were already lined up down the street when they arrived in the morning. The need is great. It’s a busy, intense day but by around 3:45 p.m., just about everyone has been served. The clothing that is left is packed up and they break down the tables and clothing racks. The Scouts come back around 4:00 p.m. and help pack all the equipment and boxes back on the truck and we move it all back into storage at Castleton Hill Moravian Church.
CASTLETON HILL MORAVIAN CHURCH WILL:
COST: Travel expenses to NYC, lunch and dinner on days we aren’t helping with the distribution, and any sightseeing expenses. We are welcome to stay for 7 days and spend 3 of those days exploring NYC.
BACKGROUND INFO: In 2011, Castleton Hill Moravian Church assisted 361 family units and 1032 individuals. The church collects clothes from the four NY Moravian Churches and the Castleton Hill Moravian Preschool March through May and then distributes it in August. We would help serve people during the actual distribution.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Wednesday:
Boy Scout Troop 26 helps move tables, supplies, and boxes of clothing over to Brighton Heights Reformed Church where they hold the distribution. This church is located just a block from Hospitality House, a shelter for women and children, and several other agencies. Brighton Heights is also centrally located close to the Staten Island Ferry and major bus lines.
Thursday:
Transform the gym into a department store by putting up tables, unloading the boxes, and putting clothes on the clothing racks. It’s a full days worth of work to get ready.
Friday:
Open to clients from several agencies, particularly Arbor, a back to work agency that sends many adults looking for interview and work clothes. During the day, families gather in the Fellowship Hall of the church and snacks are provided to them while they wait their turn to look for clothing in the gym. A volunteer or “personal shopper” takes each client into the gym to pick out clothing. With the clothes organized on the tables and racks and volunteers to assist, things move along fairly quickly.
Saturday:
Open to the public and serve families from all over Staten Island. For the last two years, families were already lined up down the street when they arrived in the morning. The need is great. It’s a busy, intense day but by around 3:45 p.m., just about everyone has been served. The clothing that is left is packed up and they break down the tables and clothing racks. The Scouts come back around 4:00 p.m. and help pack all the equipment and boxes back on the truck and we move it all back into storage at Castleton Hill Moravian Church.
CASTLETON HILL MORAVIAN CHURCH WILL:
- Provide a place to sleep and bathe. Depending on the number of people in our group, we’ll either stay at the parsonage, church, or in members’ homes.
- Provide breakfast for all the days that we are with them as well as lunch and supper for each of the days of the distribution.
- Welcome us to join worship at CHMC and to help lead worship on the Sunday following the distribution if we wish.
- Have subway and bus maps and basic touristy information available.
- Have a great time getting to know each other and growing in our sense of what it means to be in mission together.