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We are a church that believes in
putting our faith into action!
Below are some* of the agencies and organizations in our world, nation and
community that are on the receiving end of our time, talent and treasure at
Oakland Christian Church.
(Blue
highlighted names will take you to a website with more information.)
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:
The
American Cancer Society:
Is the nationwide
community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to
eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing
it, saving lives and diminishing suffering, through
research, education, advocacy and service.
In
Suffolk, many wonderful people have been lost to cancer, and
many are currently engaged in the fight for their life.
In our church, we feel both the loss and the fight very
keenly. When it seems as if we can do nothing, this is
how we channel our feelings and energies:
Relay For Life
The Relay For Life began 15
years ago with a single person and is now the largest fund
raising event of the ACS. It is a fun overnight event
where teams from local churches, organizations or businesses
come together to build community spirit and to honor loved
ones and fight cancer. We celebrate survivors and
raise money for research and programs. We sign up sponsors,
and gather at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy the Friday in May
after Mother's Day to take turns walking or running laps or
rocking in rocking chairs, keeping at least one team member
on the track or rocking through the night
until the morning. For more information on Oakland's Relay
click Relay.
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Oakland
Christian Church has participated in the Suffolk Relay since
it began here in 1995.
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In 1998 a church
member began an Easter Pie Sale in the week preceding Good
Friday to raise money for this event in memory of her
sister, lost to breast cancer. Members and friends
take pie orders for a month before, bake 1000 - 1400 pies of
5 different
kinds at the church and Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Station,
fold pie boxes and deliver pies all over Suffolk during the
week.
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Coin cans
supplied by the ACS are available in church all year.
The March of
Dimes WalkAmerica
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Every April, half a million
people in 1200 communities nationwide participate in
WalkAmerica to help the nearly half a million babies
annually that are born premature. WalkAmerica began in
1970 and is the March of Dimes' biggest fund-raiser for
research and programs that save babies born prematurely or
with birth defects. This event has raised more than
$1.3 billion to help give babies a fighting chance.
Oakland Christian
Church has participated in the 6-mile Suffolk event annually
for the last 12 years.
The Salvation Army
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"Is an international movement
and an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church.
Its message is based on the Bible and its ministry is
motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His
name without discrimination."
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Oakland
Christian Church "adopts" 100 Suffolk Salvation Army Angels
in their Angel Tree program each December.
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We collect
non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army on a
continuing basis, and deliver the non-perishable contents of
our church pantry several times a year.
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Our youth
groups organize the Salvation Army food pantry and paper
supplies every December.
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Our Sunday
School classes buy, cook and serve lunch for 110 adults and
children at the soup kitchen once a quarter during the year,
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Church
members and friends donate their gently used or new coats to
the
Suffolk Christian Church Community Coat Drive
on behalf
of Salvation Army.
Lions Club of America
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Lions are
recognized worldwide for their service to the blind and
visually impaired. This service began when Helen Keller
challenged the Lions to become her "knights of the blind in
the crusade against darkness" during the association's 1925
international convention.
Through a church member, we collect used eyeglass frames,
lenses and
hearing aids. by notices in our church newsletter.
These are distributed overseas in developing countries.
Nationwide, over 5 million eyeglasses have been donated overseas through
their "SightFirst" program.
Ruritan
National Inc.
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Is
a national community service organization dedicated to
improving communities and building a better America through
"Fellow-ship, Goodwill and Community Service". They strive
to create a better understanding among people through
volunteer community service and make their area a better
place to live and work. At
Oakland Church, an
adult Sunday School class or the Circle II Women's
Fellowship will buy, prepare, cook and serve dinner to 50
Chuckatuck Ruritan Club members for some of their monthly dinner
meetings.
Habitat for Humanity International
- Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit,
non-denominational Christian housing organization.
They welcome all people to join them to help build simple,
decent, affordable, houses in partnership with those in need
of adequate shelter. The houses are sold at no profit to the
perspective homeowner and family, who helped build the
house, with no interest on the mortgage. Since 1976,
Habitat has built 125,000 houses in more than 80 countries,
including 30,000 houses across the U.S.
Oakland Christian Church
prepares and delivers lunch
quarterlly to the Habitat for Humanity crew in Suffolk.
Boy Scouts of America, Inc.
- Incorporated in 1910 and
chartered by Congress in 1916, the purpose of the Boy Scouts
of America is to provide an educational program for boys and
young adults to build character, to train in the
responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to
develop personal fitness.
At
Oakland Christian Church,
the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Den meetings, Pack meetings,
Area Council meetings, Roundtables, Committee meetings and
Court of Honor gatherings for Isle of Wight and Suffolk in
the Colonial Virginia Council take place at various times of
the week, month or year. Each February features Boy
Scout Sunday, in which the Boy Scouts are recognized for
their achievements and service through the year.
Girl Scouts of the USA
was chartered by
Congress in 1950. Girls Scouts provide a place for
girls in an accepting and nurturing environment to build
character and skills for success in the real world.
The Girl Scout Group 5563 meets at Oakland Christian Church
every other Monday night at 6:30 p.m. Girl Scout Group
5563 has 28 girls registered which include Brownies, 6-8
years old; Juniors, 8-11 year old; and Cadette, 11-14 year
old. The leader is Johnice Mitchell #255-4353 with
co-leaders Kitty Martin #255-4353, Joyce Dugan, Kelli
Randolph and Tammy Martin. Each March Oakland
Christian Church features Girl Scout Sunday in which the
Girl Scouts are recognized for their achievements and
service.
DENOMINATIONAL - United Church of Christ:
Veterans of the Cross
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Newly renamed "The Christmas Fund", this is an annual special offering at Christmas benefiting
low-income, retired U.C.C. clergy and their
widowed spouses who faithfully served the church and
find themselves struggling with financial needs in
retirement. It also supplies emergency assistance and
helps finance pension and health benefit supplementation for
retired clergy and lay persons.
One
Great Hour of Sharing -
This is an
annual
special offering on the third Sunday of Lent. One
Great Hour of Sharing began 50 years ago and today is a
non-profit ministry of
10 protestant denominations
working with the ecumenical
Church World Service to provide disaster relief, refugee
assistance and long term solutions and aid to improve the
quality of life for individuals and communities in over 100
countries, including our own!
Souper Bowl Sunday
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This is an ecumenical annual special offering on Super Bowl
Sunday in January. Church members of all denominations
across the U.S. donate $1 on Super Bowl Sunday to feed the
hungry. Started in 1990, traditionally youth groups
organize the event.
At Oakland, the
various youth are at the church doors to accept donations as
people leave worship.
Elon Homes for Children
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Located in North
Carolina, Elon Homes for Children has its roots in the
United Church of Christ and has provided high quality care
for at-risk infants, young children, teenagers and young
adults from a variety of backgrounds with a wide range of
needs since 1907.
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Oakland Church has twice
brought our (grades 6 - 12)
youth group to Elon for a week-long
work camp mission trip, where they raked, painted,
landscaped, scraped, swept, etc., and
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Elon periodically
receives our
"Campbell Soup Labels for Education"
collected by the
Circle I Women's Fellowship for the past 6 years to help Elon purchase 15-passenger vans
and other needed equipment.
The Eastern
Virginia Association of the United Church of Christ
The Christian Missionary Association
The Eastern Virginia Association U.C.C. Scholarship Fund
John's River Valley Camp
United Church Retirement Homes
Tidewater United Church of Christ
VIRGINIA:
The Virginia Council of Churches
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For more than 50 years, 16 denominations within Virginia work to bring Christians
together across the Commonwealth to foster unity within the
body of Christ and to meet human needs. Their purpose
has remained constant, but new issues need new responses and
programs and strategies change to meet current needs.
Oakland Christian Church is involved with:
The Eastern Shore Migrant Head Start Program:
The program
operates between May and November and serves over 400
children of migrant farm workers from birth to 5 years of
age, who travel to pick crops on the eastern shore of
Virginia. Services are also provided to adult family
members.
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In 2002, with a
list supplied by the Head Start Program, in April the Circle
II Women's Fellowship collected needed household items. The first delivery was in June, and
collections continue.
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Rev. Burns took a group of
Oakland Christian Church youth, 6th - 12th grade,
for the week to one of the three Eastern Shore
Head Start centers for their 2003 Work
Camp Mission Trip. They raked, painted, hammered,
cleaned, etc., and helped teachers with the children in their
classrooms. The group stayed at Occohannock Retreat
Center during the week. In 2004, the
group plans to return and devote some work time to the
retreat center and the Head Start Center.
The Refugee Resettlement Program:
The Church World
Service Immigration and Refugee Program is a network of
denominations and local offices serving the needs of
refugees as they resettle in the U.S. The
(ecumenical) Virginia Council of Churches works with them
and has one of three Virginia Refugee
Resettlement Program offices locally in Hampton. Families from the Sudan,
Bosnia, Vietnam, Iran and Afghanistan have resettled in the
Tidewater / Hampton Roads area at almost one family a week.
Congregations are sought to sponsor them, and when no
sponsor is available the Hampton office provides furnishings
and food for the refugees to set up house.
We publish a list of needs:
furniture, bedding and appliances and church members either contact the office
directly with donations for pickup, or for smaller items
such as school supplies, baby items, etc. A church member will periodically
drop them off at the Hampton office.
The office
provides pick-up and a tax receipt if needed.
GREATER TIDEWATER AREA / HAMPTON ROADS:
The
Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater, Inc.
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In 1985, local
citizens with a common commitment to help women, teens, and
families facing a crisis pregnancy, founded the center which
now serves women
and families throughout the area in 3 locations. They
have expanded to meet community needs in prevention and
healing, and a future downtown Norfolk location is planned.
In addition to an annual financial
donation, the Circle II Women's Fellowship collects and delivers new
and gently used baby items throughout the year with an
annual baby shower at their April meeting to benefit the
Suffolk center.
The Suffolk Shelter for the Homeless
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Provides
temporary or emergency shelter for the homeless: for community members in need
as determined by social service agencies and local churches
in Suffolk, Franklin, Isle of Wight, Southampton Counties,
Hampton Roads, and the Peninsula.
In addition to an annual financial donation, twice a year
the Circle II Women's Fellowship collects from the
Oakland membership and
delivered to the Shelter. Any surplus of food after a
church function is delivered to the
shelter.
The Genieve Shelter
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In Suffolk and in Smithfield, provides emergency
shelter and support groups for women and children involved
in domestic violence. Counseling, referrals, and advocacy to
court are offered to all victims of domestic violence.
In addition to an annual financial
donation, twice a year the Circle II Women's Fellowship
obtains a list of needs from the Shelter, which is run in
the Sunday bulletin for several weeks. The youth groups also make
cookies and put them in bags they have decorated at
Valentine's Day and deliver them to the Shelter.
The Farm Fresh ABC's Program
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In its 15th year, helps local
schools earn free educational equipment and software by
encouraging customers to save their grocery receipts and
turn them in to the school of their choice. In 2001,
$170,000+ of equipment was donated to Hampton Roads area
schools, including 157 computers and equipment, 416 audio
visual aids, 128 pieces of sports equipment, 1085 books and
180 pieces of computer software. The program began this year
in September, and will continue into May.
By
collecting grocery receipts Oakland Christian Church members
and friends helped obtain free educational aids for Oakland
Elementary School in Chuckatuck and Nansemond Suffolk
Academy in Suffolk.
OBICI
Hospital of Suffolk
- For many years,
the Circle II Women's Fellowship of Oakland Christian Church
has annually provided 8 - 12 tiny handmade pleated white
burial gowns and white crotchet-edged flannel blankets to
the hospital to give to bereaved families when their infant
does not survive birth and needs to be dressed for burial.
A nurse delicately bathes and dresses the fragile infant, a
beautiful picture is taken and a snip of hair or something
tangible if possible. These are given to the family to
have something to remember their child.
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