Community outreach is a core ethos and practice at St. Mary Magdalene. “Outreach” means a lot of things here. In addition to hands-on service, collecting food and other items for donation, and traveling on mission trips, it also includes grant-making to local, statewide, national, and international organizations that serve the poor and marginalized.
St. Mary Magdalene pledges to the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, the Front Range Region, and Cathedral Ridge. A significant portion of these amounts help support programs, services, and grants to organizations serving those in need.
St. Mary Magdalene has a longstanding partnership with St. Paul’s School in Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti, through Locally Haiti. Funds are raised for St. Paul’s student scholarships at special events throughout the year.
The funds that the St. Mary Magdalene Outreach Committee uses to make grants to local, national, and international organizations come from a variety of sources. In addition to the 25% of our plate offering, these have historically included distributions of roughly $6,000 almost every year from our Legacy Endowment Fund, funds raised from parties and events at the “Celebrate and Share” auction, cookbook sales, and direct donations. Our Outreach Committee meets bimonthly to determine how best to distribute the funds entrusted to it.
Finally, our commitment to proactive outreach is reflected in long-standing volunteer efforts to benefit local nonprofits. Parishioners help feed the hungry through our on-site Community Garden, our monthly collection of food for the OUR Center, and our quarterly commitment to serve lunch at the OUR Center. We also actively support local shelters, programs, agencies, and advocacy groups that serve the poor, the unhoused, and recent immigrants.
Community Garden
We have a community garden on our property where we grow vegetables to donate to local food pantries. Each year we donate hundreds of pounds of organic vegetables to needy families. Please contact office@smmboulder.org to help tend the garden!
Volunteering
SMM parishioners give a significant amount of their time and talent to outreach. Some of these projects include Habitat for Humanity, OUR Center, and CROP Hunger Walk.
Monthly Food Drive for OUR Center
Looking for an easy way to support Outreach? Please remember the SMM Food Drive basket in your weekly grocery shopping! Donations such as cereal, peanut butter, soup, canned tuna and chicken, rice, and baby food/formula are especially needed. Place sealed, non-perishable items only in the basket at the back of church in the entry way. Thank you!
Racial & Social Justice Ministry
This committee explores ways we can work toward racial reconciliation through actions, attending community events and taking part in opportunities presented by the NAACP Boulder County. Meetings are generally on the last Sunday of the month before worship.
Locally Haiti
Locally Haiti (formerly the Colorado Haiti Project) partners with rural Haitian communities to support their rise out of extreme poverty. St. Mary Magdalene holds a yearly fundraiser to provide scholarships for students at St. Paul’s School in Petit Trou de Nippes.
