Scott Dingle (back row, from left), Pastor Andy Hagen, Susan Hagen and Debbie Dingle were among
the Advent Lutheran Church team who visited Good Shepherd Church and School in a Mumbai slum.
It was part of a mission against sexual slavery.
Photo provided
Rabbi Ruvi New of Chabad of East Boca pedals a tricycle with a portable sukkah attached to the rear.
Photo provided
Members of First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach participated in the Oct. 13 End Hunger Walk,
CROS Ministries’ 19th-annual 5K fundraiser along Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach,
which attracted more than 330 participants who raised almost $24,000 for such programs as
The Caring Kitchen and the Delray Beach Food Pantry.
Photo provided
At St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church’s Oct. 3 Blessing of the Pets,
Charlotte Donelan has her toy pet blessed during the afternoon service
after having both of her living pets blessed in a morning service.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Tim Pallesen
After climbing the highest mountains to draw attention to the travesty of sexual slavery, Debbie Dingle and her pastor met with the young girls who need to be rescued.
“We felt it was time to come down from the mountain to the valley where the darkness is,” said the Rev. Andrew Hagen of Advent Lutheran Church in Boca Raton.
Dingle and her husband, Scott, are back from India, where they traveled with Hagen and his wife, Susan, to reach out to the “untouchables” whose daughters are victims.
Advent’s mission against sexual slavery began last year when Dingle climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Operation Mobilization, a worldwide Christian ministry with 6,100 workers who rescue women from prostitution and exploitation. She climbed Mount Everest in April.
The India trip was a fact-finding mission to witness the need among the “untouchables” and report back to Boca Raton how Christians can help.
“It was the experience of joining with our Lord who reached out and touched the lepers whom society had turned their backs on,” Susan Hagen said. “Nobody is outside the fold and unworthy of being brought back in.”
Watch for more fundraisers to support the India rescue effort. “Our goal is to get another shelter,” Dingle said. “We really want to take this message further into the Boca Raton community.”
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The first Feed My Community event was a weighty success.
Billed as the “largest food collection drive ever in South Palm Beach County,” the event brought in 43,000 pounds of food to feed the poor.
Feed My Community began as a good cause by volunteers at First United Methodist Church, but soon grew to include many others who collected food in Boca Raton and Delray Beach.
“We formed really good partnerships with other churches, schools and civic organizations and we’re hoping they will grow,” the Rev. Tom Tift said.
More than 350 volunteers sorted food donations for distribution to the Caring Kitchen operated by CROS Ministries, Boca Helping Hands, the Jacobson Family Food Pantry and the Palm Beach County Food Bank.
“Whether this was the largest is questionable,” Tift said, noting the annual food drive by mail carriers. “It’s hard to compete with the Post Office.”
Feed My Community organizers hope to collect 75,000 pounds of food next year.
***
The Caring Kitchen also got a boost Oct. 13 when 380 volunteers raised $24,000 in the 19th annual End Hunger Walk for CROS Ministries.
Each walker raised a minimum of $100 and brought donations of peanut butter and canned tuna.
Christians Reaching Out to Society operates six community food pantries plus the Caring Kitchen, which serves hot meals for the poor and homeless in Delray Beach.
***
The newest cause for a walkathon is the Celebrating Marriage and Family Prayer Walk set for Nov. 9 in Boca Raton.
Walkers from a dozen churches have signed up after their pastors became concerned about the county’s high divorce rate. Organizers are foster care workers who witness the effects of family distress.
The walk begins at Boca Raton Christian School at 10 a.m. Saturday and goes to Sanborn Square to hear music and speakers. Freewill donations go to the foster care agency 4Kids of South Florida.
Contact Kelly McVey at 391-2727, Ext. 350, or mcveyk@bocachristian.org for more information.
***
Ruvi New, the rabbi of Chabad of East Boca, shared a universal message as he peddled a tricycle with his portable sukkah around town.
Jews around the world live in a temporary hut with an open roof after Yom Kippur each year. The open roof to heaven reminds believers that they are always under the watchful eye of God and in need of his protection.
Mobile sukkahs were built on trailers and pickup trucks before huts on tricycles became a hit in New York City four years ago. “East Boca has kind of an urban vibe to it,” New said. “This is the perfect blend of tradition and innovation.”
The rabbi invited local Jews on the street to shake a palm branch, myrtle twigs, willow branches and the etrog fruit to symbolize the coming together of different people.
After the holiday, he reported that peddling a portable sukkah was great exercise: “It’s the ultimate body and soul workout.”
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Faith Farm is teaming with Waste Management to manufacture organic compost and potting mixes.
Faith Farm Ministries was the county’s first major nonprofit to rehabilitate recovering alcoholics with work assignments when it opened west of Boynton Beach in 1951.
The ministry now has 445 beds at three locations. Initiatives to raise money for Faith Farm’s recovery program include thrift stores, citrus, cattle, dairy calves, recycling and farming.
The newest initiative makes organic compost using food scraps and yard trimmings to manufacture soil mixes for the landscape and garden markets under the brand name Organic Valley.
Recovering alcoholics and drug addicts package the soil mixes, while their Christian counselors help them overcome their addictions. They are trained for occupations to get jobs when they complete their counseling.
***
Thanksgiving Day this year also is the first day of Chanukah.
That concurrence is not likely to be repeated in our lifetimes.
To go along with that, Chabad of South Palm Beach is trying for a Guinness World Record for the World’s Most Valuable Dreidel.
The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top that is central to the history and observance of Chanukah. Pedro Moldanado, a jeweler, sculptor and owner of Jewelry Artisans in Manalapan, will be creating the dreidel with precious metal and gemstone jewelry donated by community members. Donations of jewelry should be made before Nov. 15. All donations are tax deductible.
A holiday party to that will include latkes, jelly doughnuts, festive music, a grand menorah lighting and the record-breaking dreidel attempt is set for 5 p.m. Dec. 1 at Plaza Del Mar in Manalapan. Participants can have their photo taken with the dreidel.
There is no charge to participate and all are welcome.
Call 351-1633 for information or to schedule a jewelry pickup.
Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.
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