Outreach

Lani Bowman, Coordinator

Community Meal
The Community Meal, offered on the fourth Saturday of the month, is prepared by parishioners for people who are struggling economically and socially, i.e., elderly, low- income, etc. Transportation is also provided. Established in 2005, our free monthly meal is perhaps now more important than ever as people struggle to meet the challenges of the current economic climate. The number of folks who depend on this service is growing rapidly as well as the number of people who come just to enjoy the good food and good company... all are welcome. Please consider helping by preparing food or volunteering for a few hours on meal days.

The Food Basket
St. Augustine provides year round support of the local Food Basket with monthly food collections. Families need extra food during the breaks because school breakfasts and lunches are not available, and special collections are made during this time.

St. Augustine’s Annual Bazaar
In addition to being a fundraiser, our annual bazaar also serves as a great community outreach and witness to the community of the fun, fellowship and hard work our members provide for this event. Our affordable and ono food is a main attraction as are the many other items people can purchase at affordable prices. Visit the Stewardship page HERE to learn more.

Student Scholarships

St. Augustine’s awards scholarships to students attending college and vocational schools for the each year. The scholarships are one of many outreach programs of St. Augustine designed to assist students with their tuition and cost of living expenses while attending college. Click HERE to learn more.

Christmas & Holiday Projects:

Christmas Food Basket Vouchers: St. Augustine contributes to the Food Basket to be issued as vouchers good at the local grocery stores. These vouchers allow local families in need to supplement their Christmas celebrations.
Salvation Army Bell Ringers: St. Augustine provides volunteer bell ringers at Takata Store during the Christmas season for 4-5 hours a day.
Keiki Shopping Spree: We sponsor a keiki shopping spree at the Thrift Ship where children could come and shop for their Ohana. We provided shopping help and free gift wrapping. Vouchers in the amount of $3.00 are distributed to the children who attend the Feast of St. Nicholas to use at the shopping spree.
Thanksgiving: We provide Walker Hall for the annual Thanksgiving lunch.

Green Faith
We are the first church in Hawaii to commit to the 2 year Green Faith program. Green Faith's mission is to inspire, educate and mobilize people of diverse religious backgrounds for environmental leadership. Their work is based on beliefs shared by the world’s great religions - we believe that protecting the earth is a religious value, and that environmental stewardship is a moral responsibility.

There are three core values that guide the work, and define the organization. These are: Spirit, Stewardship and Justice. We did audits in all three areas and chose priorities in these areas. The following are some of the Green Faith activities we accomplished in 2013:

Spirit - We hold an outdoor worship service open to the community at Keokea Park during September. We pray at the peace pole the second Sunday of the month, a testimony to the community.
Stewardship - FOOD: We host ethnic cooking classes during the summer: Sushi, pancit and laulau. In Spring 2013, extra produce and food were sold at thrift shop, some donated by local farms. WASTE: HI-5 and recycling collections. Food scraps collected after fellowship and other functions for animals.
Environmental Justice - This group has been in touch with local hunting and fishing clubs/individuals to help support hunting and fishing issues. Lani met with middle school students who are working on these issues.

James Walker Hall Use:

The hall continues to play an integral role in the community as a host for many of the groups that uphold and inspire the unique community that is Kohala. It truly is a gathering place for many of the most instrumental groups within our community, including the Boy/Cub Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America, the RMD Taiko Drummers, Al-Anon, Ohana Conferencing, the Community Development Plan Committees and Sub-Committees. All call James Walker Hall home. Quite an impressive list!

Hope for Haiti
Our church has developed an important relationship with Kohala’s Hope for Haiti, a community coalition dedicated to the establishment of an ongoing relationship between the town of Marigot, Haiti and North Kohala to help Marigot with a long-term economic stability project. Though not an officially sponsored church project, we have on several occasions joined together to further this worthwhile endeavor.