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FOCUS North America Latest News

A Great Thanksgiving Banquet!

“Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation and eternal joy.” - Fr. Alexander Schmemann

Once in seminary I was told that Fr. Alexander Schmemann used to say that Thanksgiving is truly the most Christian of all American holidays. I certainly agree! With all the family, food and warm thanks offered, one can easily imagine that our Thanksgiving meal is a foretaste of the Great Thanksgiving Banquet to come!

But for so many this week, Thanksgiving is a harsh reminder of the loneliness and overwhelming struggle just to “make it” that they feel every day...

This thanksgiving season FOCUS NA volunteers have helped to prepare and distribute Thanksgiving baskets and have served thousands of warm holiday meals.  They also have taken time to visit with those who would otherwise have gone without food or family.  I wish everyone could join us at least once to serve a meal in a FOCUS Center and see how thankful people are for what is offered and sit to listen to their stories first hand.  To be honest, I feel that the poor we serve are often so much more thankful for the little they have than I have ever been for all that I enjoy.  But times are hard and getting harder. That’s why we are so thankful for your generous gift today.

Because of your generous support this Thanksgiving, Orthodox Christians are uniting together to give hope to the hopeless! Here are three examples of how your prayers and gifts to FOCUS North America are making a real difference:

• This Thanksgiving season, your gifts will provide hot, nutritious meals and vital care for homeless families and their children living in cramped motel rooms in Orange County, CA and homeless men and women on the streets in San Diego, CA and Orlando, FL.
• This Thanksgiving season, your gifts will provide counseling and job assistance to new mothers struggling to find work and care for their new babies after choosing not to have an abortion in St. Louis.
• This Thanksgiving season, your gifts will give warmth to the many cold by providing hot meals, shoes and warm winter clothing in Minnesota.

In the next few weeks, we will serve more meals and care for more people than at any other time of the year! While this means more chances to help change the lives of those we serve, it also means we need more help.

Would you share your thanksgiving for all God has given you by helping to provide hot, nutritious meals and vital life-recovery ministries for those in need through FOCUS North America?  Please click on the donate button in this email to give today.

Many times, those we serve simply need someone who cares to listen and a helping hand to regain their footing in life. The generosity of faithful friends like you makes it possible for this Thanksgiving to be special and keeps FOCUS North America’s doors open all year around. And that should give you a special thanksgiving too! Thank you!

Fr. Justin Mathews

Executive Director

PS - We are so thankful for your generous support donated online today! Click on the following links to read an amazing story of your gifts in action at our FOCUS MN Center and to listen to our latest podcast interview with Mat. Vera Proctor, Local Director of FOCUS MN.

FOCUS North America Latest News

Because of You, FOCUS Orange County Provides School Supplies and Shoes for At Risk Youth

This month, more than 300 church members from 6  Orthodox parishes and missions collected and distributed 350 backpacks filled with school supplies for underprivileged kids living in motels in Orange County.  In addition to the backpacks, 350 pairs of shoes were collected at shoe drives by the local Orthodox community.

On August 28, FOCUS Orange County will be grilling out for residences at the Eldorado Motel, a shelter for recently-made-homeless families. Also, beginning in September we will begin to serve weekly meals at the Eldorado Hotel or another similar venue with our mobile hospitality truck.

With Your Help, FOCUS Appalachia will Soon be Hosting More Short Term Service Groups

The leadership team of FOCUS Appalachia will soon be inviting all of the Orthodox Churches from all jurisdictions in the Eastern time zone to send short term service groups to help out individuals and families in need in the area. A local girls’ mission that recently closed has given FOCUS Appalachia a dormitory to house volunteers. Our first teams will help with the rehabilitation of this building.

Thanks to You, FOCUS Minnesota Celebrates First Divine Liturgy in its New Building

On Saturday August 14, 2010, with the blessing and cooperation of the Minnesota Eastern Orthodox Christian Clergy Association (MEOCCA), the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the newly acquired center for FOCUS Minnesota. Five clergy concelebrated the Divine Liturgy, and we were honored by the presence of Fr. Justin Mathews, Executive Director of FOCUS North America, who traveled from Kansas City with his wife Matushka Jodi, to be with us that day. The premises were blessed, and following that a lunch was served to all. Approximately 40 guests from the neighborhood came to eat with us and share our table fellowship. Eleven Orthodox parishes were represented! This event served as an Open House for FOCUS Minnesota and officially launched our presence in the Twin Cities.  The Grace of the Holy Spirit has opened many doors for us already. A menu of services is shaping up for September that will include weekly AA meetings, a clothes closet, taking our free meals from once a  month to two times a month, an after-school reading circle, and a school-shoe drive. Glory to God for all good things!

Through Your Generous Donations, FOCUS Gateway City Continues to Expand Its Ministry

St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church has generously donated to FOCUS Gateway City space for its ministry.  FOCUS Gateway City is now serving two community meals a month. It will soon be adding a six week money management class for women with crisis pregnancies already being served through its Employment Assistance Program and Working Wardrobe Programs.  The “Seniors in the City Work Day” program, where volunteers help seniors make repairs to their homes, is now happening one Saturday a month.

You’ve Helped Start Ministry at FOCUS Central Florida

Thirty-one volunteers from four local area parishes in Central Florida, as well as two volunteers who drove 120 miles, collaborated to prepare and serve a meal to more than 200 homeless on Friday, August 6. The team plans another feeding on September 24th.

FOCUS San Diego Continues its Weekly Meals, Thanks to You

Because of your help, over the last 30 days the Focus-San Diego team has engaged 120 individual volunteers from seven different Orthodox churches to set-up, prepare and serve more than 800 meals, collectively, on the four Wednesday nights during the time period July 15 to August 15.

YES Program of FOCUS North America Hosts Trip Leader Training Weekend

The YES Program of FOCUS North America held a fruitful and joyful trip leader training the weekend of August 13-15, 2010.  Katrina Bitar, YES Program Director, invited 9 dedicated individuals to Los Angeles where they spent the weekend at the Fred Jordan Mission getting to know the ins and outs of the YES program and developing a strong community with each other.  We are blessed to have them as vital members of our ministry team as we move towards eight exciting trips this fall. Visit our website www.yesnorthamerica.org for more information on upcoming yes trips in the following cities: Ypsilanti, MI; Dallas, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Phoenix, AZ; Chicago, IL; Rhode Island and the Carolinas.