CARE Outreach

CARE is the outreach committee at St. James. It is made up of people who have a passion for outreach in the community and in the world. The mission of the CARE Committee is to connect the people of St. James with people in the community who are in need. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate in all our ministries and to discover passions and interests of their own.

Additionally, the CARE committee makes decisions about managing funds that are directed to specific community agencies, such as Habitat for Humanity and the local shelters.

Meetings are held quarterly on Tuesdays.

CARE has three major monthly outreach programs. See below for more information about these.

Community prayer service at Lenoir Square

News & Events

Newsletter

Backpack

One of CARE's major ongoing outreach efforts is the Backpack program, led by Hank & Gloria Friberg. Through Backpack, our church collects and distributes nutritious food to children in need at our sponsored Caldwell County school once a month. Multiple churches sponsor a school to cover each weekend. Many of the children in our county receive their only meal at school each day, so our parish is working to ensure that those children have access to meals at home.

Parishioners packing food for Backpack

Room at the Table

St. James began participating in Room at the Table in 2009 to cook and to serve a meal to anyone in need. Because our local soup kitchen was closed on the weekends, many men, women and children had no resource for a meal two days a week. Over the years Room has become a popular ministry at St. James, with over one hundred adults and youth participating as members of five teams. Each team takes turns serving a meal in the Hogan Room at 4:00 pm on the second Saturday of each month; four other area churches serve on the remaining Saturdays, including those months with five Saturdays.

Team members preparing to serve for Room at the Table

Clothes Closet

The Clothes Closet is organized by John & Christine Limbrunner. Parishioners and members of the community contribute shirts, pants, shoes and other items for those who need them. The Limbrunners organize the donations to be able to meet specific needs. The Closet is held at every Room at the Table, so that guests can shop and then eat. We are always taking donations, so gently used items are always appreciated and welcome.

The Limbrunners pause for a photo while organizing donations

CARE also sponsors and participates in events that impact our local and global communities, often in partnership with other churches:

St. James and St. Paul's AME partnered in 2017 for a global hunger awareness project

CARE painting at LEOS, Lenoir's homeless shelter

Parishioners working on a Habitat for Humanity build