Annual Council Service Project

The Diocesan Youth Commission and our parish EYC invites you to take part in this year’s Annual Council Service Project: “We Will, With God’s Help.” In partnership with El Refugio, this project supports immigrant families impacted by detention, poverty, and displacement.

You can participate by donating gift cards and supplies and/or writing notes of encouragement.

Delegates will work with the Youth Commission to assemble supplies at Annual Council (Nov

7-8). Donations and notes of encouragement can be mailed ot the Cathedral of St Philip or dropped off at St Greg's to be delivered by our parish delegation. The donation deadline is November 1. Learn more and get involved at eycdioatl.org/service-project.

Family Promise, October 5-11

Our next and last Family Promise commitment for 2025 is October 5-11. Here's what we need help with: 

1) dinner preparation Weds Oct 8, delivered by 6:30 p.m., more details to follow

2) help at the day center Sat Oct 11, 1:00-5:00 p.m., have one helper, need one more for all or part of the time

3) donation of hygiene supplies like laundry detergent, Clorox wipes, and women's hygiene supplies; boxes in the narthex and parish hall buildings.

If you can help, please contact Annette at bateskannette@gmail.com or 706-255-5839. Thanks so much!

Barnett Shoals Elementary School Clothing Drive: October 1-November 2

Every Fall, St. Gregory’s sponsors a parish-wide clothing drive to support our neighbor, Barnett Shoals Elementary School. Again this year, school personnel have devoted extra time to reviewing prioritized clothing needs for the schools’ clothes closets. Your contributions of any of the following items will make a difference:

DESPERATELY NEEDED: boys’ and girls’ pants and shorts - All sizes, but especially youth sizes 4-10. Need easy to wear, elastic waist shorts, pants and girls’ leggings.

ALWAYS NEEDED: girls’ underwear, especially sizes 4/5 and 8-16, S-XL; boys’ underwear, sizes 4-16, XS-XL.

NEW REQUESTS: New or lightly-used, closed-toe kids’ shoes. Boys’ and girls’ sizes 10/10.5-3 (younger kids) and 3.5-7 (older kids). Unopened toiletry items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand soap, deodorant, shampoo, etc.).

NOTE: Socks and shirts are not needed this year. We have done a great job of supplying those in previous years.

Donations will be collected from Wednesday, October 1 through Sunday, November 2 in the boxes located in the lobby of the Parrish Hall. If you have any questions, please contact Gail Eilers, eilersgail@gmail.com, or Jane Sheridan, jsheridan@friendlycity.net. Thank you, in advance, for your support.

National Suicide Prevention Week

National Suicide Prevention Week is September 7th-13th. St Gregory's will be hosting the following events throughout the week in recognition:

• Monday, September 8 at 6PM - QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Training

• Wednesday, September 10 at 6PM - Our usual Healing service will be adapted slightly and focus on the issue of suicide and mental health.

• Thursday, September 11 at 6PM - Keep/Watch Training. Holle Tubbs, Youth Missioner for the Diocese of Atlanta and co-author of Keep Watch: Suicide, Christ, and Community will be offering a workshop on Keep/Watch, the suicide prevention program for the Diocese of Atlanta. 

• Friday, September 12 at 6PM - Suicide Prevention Vigil.

Family Promise Week, August 10-17

Our next week is August 10-17. Meals are all taken care of, and we are focusing our gift card appeal on the homeless children in the school system. We need volunteers for Saturday August 16 1:00-5:00 to help staff the day center so parents can do their laundry. This includes something fun, playing with the kids! We also need someone to drive the van, picking up the families at 12:45 and returning them at 5:00. You can bring laundry detergent or clean used towels or sheets to church starting August 3; there will be boxes for these items in the narthex and the parish hall building. Questions: call Annette, 706-255-5839, bateskannette@gmail.com. Thanks for your support of our commitment to this community outreach to homeless families!  

Help for Our Homeless Students, July 20 through August 15

For the last several years, the Clarke County School System has served its homeless students through the federally-funded McKinney-Vento Program. While these funds have helped ensure that homeless students received the same school supplies and other services provided for all students, there are many needs unique to this population that federal dollars won’t fund. For example, homeless students and their families often need clothes, food, personal hygiene items, etc. that are difficult to anticipate and plan for and are not on the list of items approved for federal expenditures.
To help address these often-unmet needs, St. Gregory’s Outreach Committee is asking for donations from our parishioners of $10 and $20 Walmart gift cards. We will collect these cards beginning July 20 through Friday, August 15. Staff of the Homeless Program will make good use of these, especially with unaccompanied homeless students as another school year begins. Please donate only $10 and $20 cards and only cards from Walmart. You may hand your donations to Gail Eilers on Sunday mornings between July 20 and August 10 or leave them with Kendall, our Parish Administrator. If you have any questions, please contact Gail at eilersgail@gmail.com or 904-333-8996. Thank you, in advance, for your generosity toward some of “the least of these.”