Mary and Joseph, played by Alice Robinson and Hunter Gregg, were surrounded by wise men, angels and shepherds during dress rehearsals for a telling of the Christmas story at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic School in Delray Beach. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Tim Pallesen
The ambitious dream is to provide temporary shelter for the children of South County families in crisis.
City House would be a safe and loving haven for children who otherwise would be thrown into the state’s overwhelmed foster care program.
Members of The Avenue Church are appealing for believers from outside their congregation to provide special talents and resources to help make the dream a reality.
“We are at a point where a team can be assembled to move forward,” the Rev. Casey Cleveland said. “But it’s a vision that’s way bigger than we are, requiring many more resources than we have.
“This would have to be of the Lord or it’s not going to happen,” Rev. Cleveland said.
Organizers hope to acquire a 17,000-square-foot former sausage packing house south of Atlantic Avenue for City House.
The Avenue Church has focused on orphans since it began two years ago. Members participate in the national Safe Families program where they open their homes to children whose parents are temporarily unable to care for them.
But the need exceeds one church’s ability to respond. About 10 children are turned away each month for lack of space.
“This is a horrific crisis that’s stirring our hearts,” women’s ministry director Allison Good said. “The orphan crisis isn’t just international — it is local as well.”
Other churches in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach have seen the need and already formed 4KIDS of South Florida to open temporary shelters. But there is no shelter between the two cities.
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Orphans are the cause for a 50-mile bike ride on Feb. 16.
Eric Johnson, who regularly bicycles down State Road A1A on Saturday mornings, got the idea.
“Here I am riding my bike on A1A,” Johnson recalled, “and I wonder if these people would ride for a reason.”
“Christians are called to help people. The Bible specifically calls out widows and orphans,” he said.
Johnson’s eyes were opened when he visited orphanages in Haiti. “Orphans need our help big time,” he said.
The Ride for Orphans bike ride starts and finishes at Spanish River Church in Boca Raton.
Bikers can register at www.spanishriver.com/ride4orphans or by calling 994-5000. The fee is $35.
The route goes to north to Boynton Beach, where bikers cross over to A1A at Woolbright Road for the coastal homestretch to Palmetto Park Road.
The Avenue Church will provide one of four rest stops at Anchor Park in Delray Beach. The Journey Church, Calvary Chapel and Boynton Beach Community Church will provide the others.
Money raised with go to the Global Orphan Project, an orphanage in Haiti and 4KIDS of South Florida.
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Hannah Svirsky of Boca Raton joins family, friends and dozens of others during a field gleaning at Native Green Cay. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Could you exchange a little hard work for the satisfaction of rushing fresh produce from the fields to people who are hungry?
More than 2,000 volunteers gleaned 345,225 pounds of sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers and other crops from local fields last year.
Gleaning is under way again this winter on Saturday mornings.
“It is very gratifying to work two or three hours to fill a truck and know that food is going to be eaten by someone who is hungry within 48 hours,” promises the Rev. Pam Cahoon, executive director of Christians Reaching Out to Society (CROS) Ministries, which supervises the gleaning and distributes the food in Palm Beach County.
The fresh produce would be wasted in fields after harvesting if volunteers didn’t collect it. Cahoon started the program when she realized that Palm Beach County is the largest producer of sweet corn.
Much of the gleaned produce appears to feed the poor at the Caring Kitchen in Delray Beach, where 88,691 hot meals were served last year.
Volunteers may contact CROS gleaning director Viviane Fils-Aime at 233-9009 Ext. 107. Families are welcome.
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Organizers of the annual Boca Raton Greek Festival at St. Mark Greek Orthodox Church are expecting as many as 20,000 to attend the four-day event on Jan. 24-27.
The popular event — billed as the largest ethnic festival in South Florida — features Greek music and dancing, traditional Greek food and pastries, children’s rides and vendors from around the world.
Admission is $5 for adults with children for free. See www.saintmarkboca.net for more information.
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The Rev. Edmund Bolella will speak at the annual Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at Pompey Park in Delray Beach on Jan. 8.
The Rev. Bolella, a Delray Beach resident and education director for a Unitarian congregation in Boca Raton, will discuss what it means to serve in the community. The Delray Community Choir will perform.
Tickets are $25. Call (561) 279-0907 for details.
The Women’s Circle Christmas and Students Award Ceremony was held Dec. 16 at the First United Methodist Church in Boynton Beach. Certificates were awarded to women who successfully completed courses in English, typing or computing. Participants had a fashion show in which they held a runway walk wearing the red and green hats, shawls and dresses they had knitted or crocheted. Photo provided
Members of Boca Raton Community Church haven’t decided yet whether to replace spires with crosses that were blown off their roof by Hurricane Sandy.
Strong winds brought down two of three spires at the Boca Raton church located at 740 NW Fourth Ave.
The spires were constructed from concrete and rebar in the late 1950s on the original church building. Crosses were added at the top of each spire eight years ago.
Church business manager John Barber reports the damaged third spire has been removed. “We didn’t want that to come falling down while people were around,” Barber said.
Now the question is whether to test Mother Nature again by replacing the spires as they were before on the roof.
“We’re still in the process of repairing damage and determining what to put there in the future,” he said.
“We will put up a cross at some point,” Barber predicted. “But we haven’t decided whether it will be on the ground or back on the building.”
Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.
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