MACC Minutes October 12, 2023

October 12, 2023.

Saint Mary’s Ending and New Beginning

Thank You, Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church!

A service of Holy Eucharist with memories and Thanksgiving for 179 Years of mission and ministry was held on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Manchester, CT on September 24, 2023. As an original founding member of MACC Charities, it was heartfelt to sit in service that Sunday for the last time in their Manchester location. St. Mary’s came to the table as a founder of the Manchester Area Conference of Churches with a clear vision of our mission with best practices to tackle immediate basic emergency needs our community neighbors face. As we say goodbye to the location, we will continue to stand side by side with St. Mary’s members and those of St. John’s who have partnered with St. Mary’s, providing them with a place to call home. We must always remember that “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

We are thrilled to announce the reopening of the inside of our Community Emergency Food Pantry. Our shelves are fully stocked with a variety of nonperishables and everyday essentials to meet the needs of the families we serve. On October 9th, MACC welcomed back our families to self-select shop the items they need directly from our pantry shelves. A member from each household is able to choose from a wider variety of items, and our volunteers will ensure a clean environment for our families by sanitizing surfaces and carts between appointments.

Help Bag Hunger Shoprite Manchester

Community partners came together for ShopRite of Manchester’s Annual Help Bag Hunger Event. This event is held to raise awareness of food insecurity in our communities and how we all work together to fight it. Various partnering agencies take a few hours during this event to go to the store and pack the bags for the shoppers. While we bag, we get to talk to many different people from all walks of life, answer any questions they might have, and help some become aware of resources in their own community that they might not know about. Thank you to ShopRite of Manchester for unifying our community efforts!

-Patti Thurlow
Operations Manager

We have so many generous partners and community members, including receiving flowers donated from Trader Joe’s. Mr. Healy and his group of students pick up and kindly deliver these flowers to the MACC Community Kitchen for our guests. The guests enjoy the flowers. You should see their faces light up when they pick their favorite flower! Thank you, Trader Joe’s and Mr. Healy!

-Chef Ferdinand Cruz
Community Kitchen Head Chef

A Big E Adventure

The MACC team went on a little adventure recently. As a team, we explored the Big E, walking and eating our way through the many vendors offering all kinds of taste treats and unique souvenirs. Our MACC team is hardworking and fun to be around; I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to spend my time with and work beside every day.

-Chance Wetmore
Social Media and Systems Specialist

MACC’s Community Outreach & Emergency Services (COES) encounters a lot of individuals and families at a time in their lives when they are in desperate circumstances. Be it homelessness or facing mounting financial burdens to remain with a roof over their heads, these situations can add tremendous stress to already overwhelming situations. Please take a moment to step back and give thanks if you aren’t experiencing any of these challenges, and take a moment to think how you could make a difference in someone’s life who is in the midst of struggles. Contrary to most news we read and listen to, there is still a lot of good in our world, and we ask that you always wake each day with the goal that “Kindness Wins.”

-Timothy Bohr
Community Outreach and Emergency Services Manager

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