Outreach Committee
Branching Out Into the World
Here at St. Mark’s we take branching out into the world seriously and are always looking for ways to serve our community and beyond!
Outreach has long been a primary focus for St. Mark’s and there are many programs embedded in the fabric of our church community. We engage in local, regional, national, and international efforts to contribute and make a difference. Whether the programs are shared with us through the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, programs sponsored by the national church, opportunities to contribute in international efforts in response to natural disasters, or simply a response to local need; the people of the parish of St. Mark’s want to be present and looking for ways to be engaged.
Outreach Committee Chairs
Hester Bury
Outreach Chairperson
Outreach Ministries
Mum Sale
Every September, St. Mark’s holds a mum sale with proceeds benefitting local service organizations. Our annual mum sale benefits the Glen House Food Pantry and the Glen Ellyn Walk-In Ministry.
Glen House Food Pantry
St. Mark’s supports the Glen House Food Pantry with volunteers, food drives, and monetary donations.
For more information, contact Joyce Frawley.
Appalachia Service Project (ASP)
ASP is a one-week mission trip in the summer to Appalachia, where youth and their adult chaperones work on projects to make residents’ homes warmer, safer, and dryer. Contact John Zelman for more information.
ReVive Center Christmas Baskets
Since 1921 ReVive Center for Housing and Healing, through the generosity of thousands of sponsoring donors, has provided Christmas baskets to 1,500 low-income families and seniors in Chicago each year. Contact Ginnie Judd for more information.
Pumpkin Patch
Each year before Halloween, the front lawn of St. Mark’s is turned into a pumpkin patch. Proceeds from the sale of pumpkins support DuPagePads.
Holy Family School Backpack and Supply Drive
In August 2022, we collected 72 backpacks, notebooks, crayons, calculators, rulers, erasers, pencils, pens and more for the students of Holy Family Ministries. Even a bike was donated for a school raffle. All the donations were worth over $2,000.
For more information, contact Director of Children’s Ministry Gina Wood.
San Marcos, Nigromante
St. Mark’s has been in a companion relationship with San Marcos in Nigromante since our first visit led by the Rev. George Smith in June 2006. This relationship was inspired by and is an extension of our ongoing companion diocesan relationship with the Diocese of Southeast Mexico and the Diocese of Renk in Sudan, established in 2001.
Since that first trip in 2006, St. Mark’s has sent parishioners, youth and adults, to Mexico every year, that is until 2020. Many parishioners have participated in these trips, and parish-wide, we have supported this relationship with fundraisers that have provided scholarships to keep children and youth of San Marcos in school, paid for half of Padre Senobio’s salary each year, and supported micro-businesses and projects to help the church and community of San Marcos. These funds also helped offset the cost of the mission trip, providing assistance for some of our parishioners who otherwise would not have been able to afford the trip. Additionally, over the years, St. Mark’s has welcomed the former bishop, Benito Juarez, and his family on their visits to St. Mark’s and the Chicago Diocese. We even had the privilege of hosting San Marcos’s Padre Senobio when he made his first visit to the United States.
In December 2019, when St. Mark’s last traveled to Nigromante, we took a delegation of dentists, hygienists, and a few parishioners on our first dental mission trip. We had hoped to return in January 2021, but because of the pandemic, we had to cancel those plans. Fundraising events were also canceled for 2020 and 2021 with the exception of the extremely successful Zoom 2021 Annual Meeting and Cake Auction which brought in approximately $20,000 to be used for the next dental mission trip.
Our hope is to return to Nigromante in January 2024. St. Mark’s dental team remains committed to return to Nigromante, and we will continue to discuss ways we can help with the dental needs in the community. We remain in contact with Padre Senobio and some of the parishioners from San Marcos, and last year, sent a box of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and greetings from St. Mark’s, which were received in the spring, delayed because of the pandemic.
There is no doubt that our relationship with the Diocese of Southeast Mexico is a part of who we are at St. Mark’s. We are so grateful for your continued support, and we ask that you remember the people of San Marcos, the Diocese of Southeast Mexico, and its new bishop, Julio Martin, in your prayers.
We are so grateful for your continued support, and we ask that you remember the people of San Marcos, the Diocese of Southeast Mexico, and its new bishop, Julio Martin, in your prayers.