Community Outreach
In keeping with the mission of St. Stephen’s Church, our church community led by our Service Committee seeks to help individuals in need, locally, nationally, and throughout the world through Episcopal Relief & Development.
We contribute to and volunteer at Sycamore Collaborative, which provides food and support services to area residents in need, with a particular focus on community-building, social justice, and food insecurity.
We provide food and items of clothing for the Street Soldiers, a group of volunteers that addresses the needs of the hungry in Schenectady.
We provide monthly lunches for St. Joseph’s Place, a drop-in center which supports residents in need.
Our spacious parish hall enables us to support a variety of community programs, including:
• serving as a distribution site for Roxbury Farm, a community-supported agriculture farm,
• hosting Red Cross blood drives,
• hosting work sessions in support of MoonCatchers, a non-profit organization in which people from the community gather to fabricate reusable menstrual products, which help girls stay in school, get an education, and participate fully in their communities.
On a broader scale we gather and deliver supplies for Church World Service and raise funds for Episcopal Relief and Development.
Sycamore Collaborative
St. Stephen’s parishioners help at the food pantry, serve as delegates to the Sycamore Collaborative assemblies, donate food and goods, and volunteer to support the Summer Lunch Program at Sycamore Collaborative.
Episcopal Relief & Development
Episcopal Relief & Development is the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being. Episcopal Relief and Development serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world. It provides relief in times of disaster and promotes sustainable development by identifying and addressing the root causes of suffering. St. Stephen’s raises money for Episcopal Relief and Development each year during Advent and Lent, and in response to natural disasters.
Episcopal Relief and Development
Crop Walk
The annual Schenectady CROP Walk is held in the early afternoon on the first Sunday of May each year. This is a 5 KM (about 3.1 miles) walk to raise money to relieve hunger. Schenectady’s walk is one of the largest in the state, raising over $50,000 each year.
From the Church World Service website: “CROP Hunger Walks help to support the overall ministry of Church World Service, especially the grassroots, hunger-fighting development efforts of partner agencies in some 80 countries.”
