Sharing our Sanctuary of Peace newsletter

Pastor Quinn offering necessities at
Tuesday Table Time. We are so
grateful for the donations we share --
and "little hottie" toe warmers!!

There's been a lot going on for Inner City Pastoral Ministry. In January, I took some time to work on a self-evaluation of my first year as pastoral associate, and was pretty amazed at the list of things that happened in that year. There's been lot of change for our community, which is soon to be known as Sanctuary of Peace -- once we get the name change finalized with banks, CRA and province. We're jumping through those hoops, slowly but surely.

In the meantime, we've put out a newsletter for our friends and supporters, and you can find it by clicking here if you're interested. I especially appreciate the first page, Pastor Quinn's reflection on the ecumenical aspect of what we do. I was delighted to nominate him for the ecumenism award pictured, and even happier to see him receive it. His impromptu speech when he received it, some of which comes through in his article, impressed everyone present to hear it.

Being part of the Sanctuary of Peace ministry team has been a huge blessing to me. The fourteen or so people with whom I work, and the many interfaith and interdenominational volunteers we see every week, not to mention our wonderful community members, fill me with great hope and joy. 

If you need a little dose of that and want to join me downtown on a Sunday, send me a message. I'm happy to bring a friend or two along.

The blue wagon goes missing

Cold weather is arriving this week, colder than we've had yet this fall. And when you're homeless and trying to survive in the outdoors, temperatures below zero are always an issue; warm clothing a must.

A replacement wagon?

Fortunately for Sanctuary of Peace and our Tuesday Table Time ministry, we've been receiving a lot of good winterwear, snacks, handwarmers, and toiletries "survival kits" from friends who know about our street ministry. Every week, we wait outside Bissell Centre East to meet those who live on the streets or in shelters located nearby. We offer them basic necessities, often things donated to us, that folks can't afford to purchase for themselves.

A few years ago, a friend donated a blue canvas collapsible wagon that we've used to transport a lot of Table Time supplies. We've guarded it carefully because we know so many of our folks would love to have it for their own use. We've often heard, "Is that wagon up for grabs?"

and received a lot of good-natured teasing when we said, "No, we need it or we can't set up our table next week."

Even so, the wagon suddenly vanished. We realized it was missing on Sunday because we usually fill it with left over cardboard boxes after we pass out the 200+ lunch bags supplied by our supporting communities. Its absence was felt again today because we had more than the usual Table Time supplies to offer folks ahead of this coming cold snap. We did a big search for our missing wagon, with staff at the Bissell Centre helping as well. Pastor Quinn also checked with the Provincial Navigation Centre across the street. 

No luck.

The wagon was very much missed for the hour and a half that we managed to give away piles and bins of good warm clothing, snacks, toiletries and gloves (we never have enough gloves for everybody). I and others made extra trips to and from our office, juggling boxes in our arms as we tried to navigate door handles. Good thing I did my Tai chi this morning to warm up those muscles!

Unless our wagon turns up this week, which we highly doubt, we're on the lookout for a new one, and/or anyone who might like to contribute toward it.

I've priced them out, and a good collapsible wagon (we don't have a lot of storage space) costs more than $100, more like $150. It has to have a heavy-duty metal frame, with good wheels that can roll down the corrugated metal ramp from our office to the street. Cheaper wagons with tiny wheels or a box that isn't sturdy enough to carry our bins and boxes just won't cut it.

If you're looking for a way to support folks living rough in the heart of the city, cash donations to Inner City Pastoral Ministry (our old name) will help us to buy a new wagon -- or, if you prefer, gloves, snacks and other winter items that people really need right now. Click here for a link to our website's donation page. E-transfers can be sent directly to icpmgiving @gmail.com, and tax receipts will be issued by our board treasurer.

Any amount helps. Our arms and backs will be much happier when we can use another wagon, and our friends on the street are always happy to receive Table Time assistance, whatever form it takes.