Local MissionsChild EnrichmentCASA is the acronym for Court Appointed Special Advocate. The volunteers who work for CASA work in conjunction with the Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS) when there is a problem in the home. Problems can range anywhere from drugs, abuse, to no electricity, no food, truancy, or a multitude of other problems.The case goes through the court system and the volunteer usually interviews parents, neighbors, teachers, or any other relevant people in the case. The volunteer works closely with the judge to determine if the child needs to go the foster care, another family member’s home, or back to that child’s own home. CASA stands on its own away from the Child Enrichment program and operates mostly by volunteers. Volunteers have to train for 40 hours and observe in court for 10 hours before they are given a case. Then they are only given one case at a time. Any money given to CASA goes straight to CASA. The volunteers get no expense money. They even pay for their own gas. They have to keep up with the hours that they work. This is how the state donates money to them based on the volunteer time. For more information call: Ann Helms at 706-738-9703 or Carolyn McManus at 706-860-7095. Christmas White Box MissionEvery Christmas, Reid has an offering to fund food for needed families. We will fill more than 300 boxes of food for meals to feed a family of four. The food is purchased with the help of Publix grocery stores at a discounted rate. The food is picked up and delivered to the CLC at Reid by members of the congregation on a Saturday. On the following Wednesday night members converge on the CLC to have dinner and fill the boxes. We make an assembly line. The small children push banana boxes down the line and the older children and adults fill the boxes. Boxes are labeled for Reid families to delivery. The remaining boxes are delivered by CSRA Community Outreach. It is a great time of fellowship and experiencing the great feeling of doing God’s work.Contact Jeff Futrell at 706-736-0824. CSRA Community OutreachCentral Savannah River Area Outreach is a nonprofit mission headed by Debora Burns. She is the only paid employee. Her missions reach out into the low income areas of the Augusta. Her approach is to empower the underprivileged by education in knowledge as well as social and work skills. Her programs include:
Contact Jeff Futrell at 706-736-0824. Greater Augusta Presbytery (GAP) MinistriesGAP has provided a much-needed service and ministry to many of the people of the CSRA who fall through the “gaps” in society. Together, the eight member churches provide everything from financial counseling to summer camp to food for several thousand disadvantaged members of our community. Reid volunteers can help with tutoring children after school, act as camp counselors for the week of summer camp, and help out at the food bank. Each November, the largest fundraiser, a GAP Walkathon is staged at Riverview Park in North Augusta. It is a fun way for families to participate by obtaining pledges and walking the one-mile track at the park.Contact Hubert Cooke at 706-860-4538. Heritage Academywww.HeritageAcademyAugusta.orgHeritage Academy is a private, Christian, urban school founded in 2001 with 10 kindergarten students. It has added a grade each year and will do so until grades Kindergarten through eighth grade are served. Heritage Academy strives to provide a rigorous education in a Christian environment, with tuition based on ability to pay, so many children who would not otherwise be able to attend such a school have the opportunity to do so. The school is located at 333 Greene Street in the Olde Town section of downtown Augusta, in the historic Houghton School Building. More information, and contacts, can be found at the school's website. Linda Tucciarone is the executive director. The school is constantly in need not just of financial support, but also of volunteers to read to and teach the students, and also help with work on the school building itself. Several individual members of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church are quite active in support of this most worthy school ministry. Contact Clay Stallworth at 706-210-8720. Email cstrallworth@comcast.net. Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN)IHN is a network of 13 area churches who work together to provide shelter, meals and compassionate assistance for homeless families. Through IHN families have the opportunity to find permanent housing, enter job training and/or secure employment while being temporarily housed in the network¹s church facilities. Our church hosts these families three to four times a year.Reid volunteers are the heart of the network as they provide the families with basic needs: shelter, safety and sustenance with a spirit of warmth, hospitality and empathy. Volunteers do a number of simple, but immeasurably important things. This includes talking and listening to guests, showing respect and concern, and being a source of hope when hope may have been lost. Volunteers are needed for set-up and clean-up, meal preparation, activity hosts, evening hosts, overnight hosts, laundry, drivers, and other positions. If you are interested in participating, call the church office at 706-733-2275, or Miriam Demyan at 706-737-2347 or miriam@knology.net. Masters Table Soup KitchenSince 1982, the Golden Harvest Food Bank, in conjunction with area churches of all denominations, has consolidated efforts in operating the Masters Table Soup Kitchen in response to the need to serve the less fortunate in Augusta. The Soup Kitchen operates 365 days a year, and serves between 250 and 300 meals a day. The Greater Augusta Presbytery (GAP) coordinates the operation of the Soup Kitchen each Tuesday of the month in conjunction with the local Presbyterian churches. Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church prepares and serves on the second Tuesday of each month, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. This hands-on ministry needs 12-15 volunteers from Reid, four or five for preparation between 8:30 and 10:30, and six or seven from 11 to 12:30 to serve the meals.Contact Larry Clarkson 706-860-2382 or larrymclarkson@bellsouth.net. Prayer Shawl MinistryShawls are knitted or crocheted by members of the Reid Memorial Prayer Shawl Ministry for those people who are going through difficult times in their lives, such as illness or loss. Each shawl recipient is prayed for during the knitting process, and before they are presented. The shawls are a tangible reminder to each hurting person that they have been covered in God's love through prayer, comfort, and compassion.For information or to request a prayer shawl contact Pam Lien at 706-667-8645 or bapcs@knology.net. Young Lifewww.YoungLife.org.Young Life of Greater Augusta continues to be a vital, exciting ministry to un-churched teenagers. Young Life Clubs are associated with High Schools in Columbia and Richmond counties. Taking the Gospel to teenagers in a language they can understand and relate to makes these clubs challenging and fun. Volunteers help with the clubs and with Bible studies. They also go to weekend and summer camp with the teenagers. Members of Reid have been active as volunteers and on the Young Life Committee, that oversees the ministry and helps organize fund raising. Wild Life is a new middle school ministry sponsored by Young Life. There is an opportunity for volunteers who want to work with younger kids to find a place in Wild Life. Click on the website link above or call the Young Life Augusta office at 706-733-2507 for more information. Contact Marshall Guill at 706-733-9842. |