St. Christopher’s Asks for Community Support to Create a “Home Sweet Home” for a Local Family

As many of you are aware, St. Christopher’s Community Church provides support for local families in need. This support comes chiefly through the church’s satellite location for the Thurston County Food Bank. Through the efforts of especially one parishioner, Lindy Vincent, local families also receive support that extends far beyond food. The church’s Steamboat Island Outreach & Basic Needs Program provides gas cards, clothing, household items, and even furniture to families in need right here in the Griffin area. St. Christopher’s Community Church is now seeking to assist a local family of four in urgent need of a permanent home of their own.

Mom is disabled. Dad continues his steady employment of the last 8 years. They have two children attending local schools. And St. Christopher’s has known this family for a number of years.

Rising housing costs and the instability of renting repeatedly interfere with this family’s hard work to get ahead and with the education of the children. We want your help in giving them a leg up.

St. Christopher’s is asking the community at large to help fund the purchase or down payment on a used mobile home.

A GoFundMe campaign has been arranged to collect funds to help provide this family a home of their own. Your contribution of any amount will really help. All donations are 100% tax deductible.

Click here to make a secure online contribution.

After you make your gift, please share the campaign with others.

Fr. Thibodeaux of St. Christopher’s, has written of this campaign, “Together with this family we can create a stable home and the family can focus attention on health, career, and education. You can, right here, right now, make a concrete difference in the life of a neighbor and be a blessing.”

Thank you for your support in this community effort.

41st Annual Blueberry Bash is Sunday, August 18th

St. Christopher’s Community Church will host it’s 41st annual Blueberry Bash on Sunday, August 18, from 12 noon to 4 PM. Proceeds from this year’s Bash benefits Community Lifeline Social Services and Shelter. Bringing its “Bluegrass with an attitude” will be musical guest Runaway Train. Don’t miss this summertime Steamboat Peninsula tradition.

The Bash is famous for its homemade pies, blueberry (and chocolate!) milkshakes, brats, and more. Come join us under a cool canopy of pines for kids’ activities, games, bingo, raffle prizes, and good neighbors.

Blueberry Bash
Sunday, August 18
12 noon to 4 PM
St. Christopher’s Community Church

GNA Asks Local Businesses to Sponsor Food Drives

Thurston County Food Bank logoThe Griffin Neighborhood Association is asking local businesses, especially those in the commercial district on and around Steamboat Island Road and Sexton Drive, to help collect donations for the Thurston County Food Bank and the local satellite at St. Christopher’s Community Church. The Association hopes to find businesses that are willing to host a Food Bank collection point for one month. At least every other month, a collection point could be set up at a different local business location. Customers and local residents would then be invited to visit the business to make their donations of food, supplies, and pet food and supplies. A GNA member would stop by weekly to pick up donations. All donations will be given to the food bank satellite run by St. Christopher’s Community Church, where everything will be put to work supporting residents in need right here in our neighborhood. Any surplus donations will be taken to the Thurston County Food Bank.

“We see this as a ‘win/win’ for our community,” says GNA Board member Becky Reavis. “Folks have an opportunity to give back, and the sponsoring location has the opportunity for those bringing in donations to learn more about the local business.”

In January and July, the Griffin Neighborhood Association hosts the collection drive at its events, the Annual Meeting and Community Picnic, respectively. Local postal carriers host a drive in May. Companion Cove has already signed on to host the drive in September. The Steamboat Animal Hospital has signed up for November.

That leaves just a few more months to be chosen by local businesses who agree to participate.

Becky Reavis asks local business owners to contact her at furacres@gmail.com or text/call at (913) 909-8215 if interested in hosting a collection. If you contact Becky, “Let me know a first and second choice of the month you want.”

In addition to donations of food and supplies, the Food Bank satellite at St. Christopher’s Community Church provides gas cards and emergency assistance that sometimes includes gift cards to Grocery Outlet. Your cash donations are always welcome to help fund that kind of support. There are two ways you can make a cash donation that will be put to work right here in the Griffin area.

Click here to make a secure online donation to “St. Christopher’s Food Bank”.

If you would prefer to mail a check, please make it out to “St. Christopher’s Community Church.” Your check’s memo line should say “Basic Needs Program.” Checks can be mailed to St. Christopher’s Community Church, 7902 Steamboat Island Road NW, Olympia, WA 98502.

For more information about the St. Christopher’s Food Bank, click here to see their web page. Or call St. Christopher’s directly at (360) 866-2111.

The Griffin Neighborhood Association is grateful for this community’s support of the Thurston County Food Bank and the efforts of St. Christopher’s to help address needs right here on the Steamboat Peninsula.

40th Annual Blueberry Bash is Sunday, August 19

St. Christopher’s Community Church will once again offer up some great summertime family fun, in the form of their ever-popular Blueberry Bash. This year’s Bash benefits the Thurston County Food Bank and you are invited to bring a canned food donation.

The Oly Mountain Boys will provide live entertainment, playing their Pacific Northwest Bluegrass from 12:30 to 3:30 PM.

Oly Mountain Boys – Pacific Northwest Bluegrass

The Bingo Garden makes its return with great prizes and there will be a raffle for a beautiful handmade quilt. A bounce house, giant bubble station, face painting, and many more kids activities will be offered.Read More

39th Blueberry Bash is Sunday, August 20

This Sunday, August 20th, is the 39th Blueberry Bash at St. Christopher’s Community Church!

The Oly Mountain Boys

This year’s Bash will benefit the Thurston County Food Bank. Bring a canned food donation and buy a pie to support the Food Bank.

Sunday, August 20
12 noon to 4 PM
St. Christopher’s Community Church
7902 Steamboat Island Rd. NW

Free, live entertainment by the Oly Mountain Boys, from 12 noon to 3:30 PM.

  • Silent Auction
  • Bingo Garden
  • Great Prizes

Summertime Family Fun!

  • Activities for the young at heart, from 12 noon to 4 PM
  • Bounce House
  • Giant Bubble Station
  • Face Painting
  • Many more kids activities

Information Booths

  • Thurston County Food Bank – St. Christopher’s Church is an official food bank satellite location
  • Open Hands Garden – Growing food and collecting donations from gardens in the Steamboat Island peninsula community
  • Griffin Fire Department – Blood pressure tests and CPR demonstrations

Many thanks to this year’s sponsors of the Blueberry Bash

Awesome Local Food

  • Famous homemade blueberry pies – plus other fruit fillings supplied by Spooner Berry Farms
  • Brats and 100% beef Polish sausages
  • Ice cream milkshakes – thanks to a generous donation by Olympic Mountain Ice Cream
  • Xinh’s eggrolls and geoduck chowder – courtesy of Taylor Shellfish Farms
  • Buy a homemade pie and support the Thurston County Food Bank

Click for a larger image

You won’t want to miss this annual summertime event, celebrating its 39 years here on the Steamboat Peninsula!

St. Christopher’s Blueberry Bash Makes Its Annual Return August 21st

Click for a larger image.

Click for a larger image.

This year’s Blueberry Bash is almost here! We may have lost count, but some of us think this will be the 39th year our neighbors at St. Christopher’s Community Church have hosted this not-to-be-missed, end-of-summer event. Entertainment will be from The Oly Mountain Boys, playing from 12:30 to 3:30 PM.

In addition to some of the best bluegrass you’ve heard, St. Christopher’s will lay out their fine blueberry pies and thick ice cream milkshakes, brats and 100% beef polish sausages, vegetarian burgers, Lew’s Famous Baked Beans, and hey! Xinh’s eggrolls.

Also returning this year are lots of activities for the young and young-at-heart, including a story time every 30 minutes and old-fashioned games. Egg toss, three-legged races, and balloon toss games will be held throughout the day.

The Oly Mountain Boys

The Oly Mountain Boys

The Blueberry Bash is a fundraiser for St. Christopher’s. There’s a bingo garden, silent auction, and a quilt raffle. A portion of this year’s proceeds will go to a local charity.

Blueberry Bash
Sunday, August 21
12 noon to 4 PM
St. Christopher’s Community Church
7902 Steamboat Island Rd. NW, Olympia, WA 98502

We hope to see you at the Blueberry Bash!

GNA Board Asks Local Residents to Give Generously to St. Christopher’s Basic Needs Fund

stchristophers

Donate now to the St. Christopher’s Basic Needs Fund

A recent report by the United Way, published in The Olympian, found more than one-third of all households in Thurston County are living either below the poverty line (12%) or are earning above the poverty level but cannot afford necessities such as housing and childcare (23%). “1 in 3 Washington households struggle to afford basic life necessities,” read the headline. Here in the Griffin area, too, there are families either in poverty or unable to their meet basic needs. In many instances these are families where one or both parents are fully-employed, but where “incomes for these residents were low enough that a single incident — such as a broken-down vehicle or lengthy illness — could trigger a household crisis.” In 2015, nearly 120 children were participating in the free or reduced-price meal program at the Griffin School District.

On the Steamboat Peninsula, St. Christopher’s Community Church acts as a satellite location of the Thurston County Food Bank. But what started in 2007 as a Food Bank Satellite program has expanded into much more than just food for members of our community. Organizers at St. Christopher’s realized local residents in need required other kinds of assistance, too. Clothing, household items, cash donations, and gift cards for gasoline purchases are sometimes what’s required. Emergency power assistance has been provided in the form of aid to pay electric bills. St. Christopher’s program has even been able to obtain emergency supplies of firewood.

We have written about the activities of St. Christopher’s Community Church and their program’s coordinator, Lindy Vincent, in the past.

At their November meeting, the Board of the Griffin Neighborhood Association voted to make a $400 donation to the St. Christopher’s Basic Needs Fund. The Board challenges other local residents to make a donation now to St. Christopher’s. Click here to make a secure online donation in any amount. Specify the amount as a donation to “St. Christopher’s Food Bank”. If you prefer to make a donation by check, your donation should be payable to “St. Christopher’s Community Church Basic Needs Fund”.  The check can be mailed to St. Christopher’s Community Church, 7902 Steamboat Island Road NW, Olympia, WA 98502.

A monetary donation to the Basic Needs Fund will be put to work immediately, helping people right here in the Griffin area.

Thank you, from the members of the Board of the Griffin Neighborhood Association and from St. Christopher’s Community Church.

Get Ready for the Blueberry Bash – August 17

It’s almost time for an annual tradition: St. Christopher’s Blueberry Bash is Sunday, August 17, from 12 noon to 4 PM.

Blueberry Bash
Sunday, August 17
12 noon to 4 PM
St. Christopher’s Community Church
7902 Steamboat Island Rd. NW, Olympia, WA 98502

Click on the image for a larger view

This year’s musical guest is The Pine Hearts. They will be playing from 12 noon to 3:45 PM.

Come enjoy the food, the fun, the silent auction and bingo garden. There are games for folks of all ages.

A portion of this year’s proceeds will benefit a local charity. In 2012, 20% of the net proceeds were donated to the Olympia Free Clinic. In 2013, 20% went to SideWalk. See the St. Christopher’s web site soon for information regarding which organization has been selected to benefit this year.

More about St. Christopher’s Community Church: “St. Christopher’s is a community dedicated to living, sharing, celebrating, and growing in the transformative and inclusive love of God through Christ. We are a congregation of the Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Church (ELCA). All are welcome: That means you.”

Annual Blueberry Bash is This Sunday, August 25th

This Sunday, St. Christopher’s Community Church will host their popular annual Blueberry Bash. This is the 36th year of food, music, games and good neighbors. The weather forecast looks great and there’s a 100% chance of blueberries and fun!

St. Christopher’s Community Church
7902 Steamboat Island Rd. NW
Sunday, August 25
12 noon to 4 PM

This year’s live entertainment is provided by the Oly Mountain Boys. Based in Olympia, this bluegrass band will be performing from 12:30 to 3:30 PM.

The Oly Mountain Boys

Bring the kids! There’ll be a kids’ activity station, a bubble station, bounce house, and face painting.

Don’t miss out on their famous homemade blueberry pies (other fruit pies, too), either whole or by-the-slice. There’ll be 100% beef polish sausages, vegetarian burgers, hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, chips, popcorn, sno-cones and much more to eat.

Bingo Garden: 12:30 to 3:45 PM.

Free, old-fashioned games such as an egg toss, 3-legged race, and balloon toss beginning at 1 PM.

The Griffin Fire Department will be on-hand to demonstrate CPR techniques.

We hope to see all of you at the Blueberry Bash!