ECHO news for october

Click HERE to see a compilation of ECHO’s current needs …

Special announcement:

Making Thanksgiving Truly Festive

Once again, ECHO is working to connect clients who would welcome the gift of a Thanksgiving feast with people in our community who would like to donate groceries for a festive meal to a family having a hard time this season. A donor may ask for a specific size of family to assist, and ECHO will match the donor with a local household in need. ECHO will offer a list of foods for the donor to deliver or suggest an amount of grocery store gift cards that can be delivered or mailed. Cards should be mailed to arrive at the recipient’s home by November 24. If you would like to help one or more families have a happy Thanksgiving, contact Linda Vretos at cvretos@cox.net.

Donations that cost ZERO … click HERE for info …

Click HERE to see how Target shoppers can help raise funds for ECHO …

Click HERE to find out what to do for a “Food Donation Option When You Can’t Come to ECHO”

ECHO desperately needs your help to help fill the shelves of their Food Pantry … Need info on donating? Call 703-569-7972 or go to https://www.echo-inc.org/needed-right-now for their current needs.

Need help? Call 703-569-9160 … To find out what ECHO has to offer its clients, click HERE for English and HERE for Spanish.

Donation Hours
M, Tu, W, Th, F - 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Tu, W, Th - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

🎶🎶  Calling All Interested
Singers AND RINGERS  🎶🎶

CHOIR CAMP, AUGUST 29, 7:30 PM

If you love to sing, make music with friends, and join your voice with others in worship, come to the pre-season CHOIR CAMP, AUGUST 29, 7:30 PM. 
We will read new music, review vocal and ensemble technique, and start work on major compositions for Advent and Christmas.
ALL SINGERS ARE WELCOME!

Karen Randall, Choral Director,
Music@stmarks-elca.org

Alice Real, Handbell Director,
Handbell@stmarks-elca.org

Funerals and Memorials Info

St. Mark’s website now have a separate informational webpage for upcoming funerals and memorials. See it at https://www.stmarks-elca.org/funerals-memorials-info.

Don’t Let Your Giant Reward Points Expire!

Do you know you can use your points for other products besides gas? Right now you can get a dozen eggs for 200 points. If you don’t need them, or only need a half dozen, please consider donating them to Food For Others. Just mark the container as FFO and leave in the kitchen refrigerator. Thank you!

Pull POP tabs from Soda Cans!

… and place them in the narthex in the container shown at the left! Cindy Hausch-Booth is collecting pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities, Greater Washington, DC! It's just so simple! Pop tabs are easy to collect and store and are less messy than collecting entire cans, and there is more concentrated aluminum in these tabs than in the cans, so we can get more money for something a lot smaller! 100% of the money we earn is used to offset the cost between the amount families are able to donate for their stay and our actual operating costs—a difference of about $197 a night. You can easily see that the little pull tab you used to throw away is very valuable to the guest families at our Houses.

Thank you for helping RMHCDC by “Pulling for the House!” Your pop tabs make a difference!

Fourth Quarter Benevolence:
The LAMB CENTER AND FACETS

Contributions from you to St. Mark’s benevolence fund for the 4th quarter of 2024 will be divided evenly between The Lamb Center and FACETS.

See also “the latest info” on our Q4 benevolence on our Quarterly Benevolence webpage.

As a reminder, our quarterly benevolences are not covered through the regular offerings to the St. Mark’s operating budget. If you donate online, there is a Quarterly Benevolence button on our Vanco e-giving portal. If you make your donation at the offering plate or mail in a check, please make out the check to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and annotate the check with "Quarterly Benevolence."

ESOL Classes at St. Mark's

Classes in the fall began Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:00 PM-8:30 PM; cost of books is $45. There is a need for ESOL teachers as well as volunteers to provide childcare (perhaps high school students who need community service hours).

For more information, contact Yvette Moy at at ymoy@stmarks-elca.org.

Community Meals Are Back!

We have resumed our Community Meals, only on the first Sunday of the month at 1:30 PM, immediately following the Spanish service. 

What do we need? To start, (1) we need volunteers; and (2) we need prayers that God will (a) give us strength and wisdom as we recommence this effort, and (b) bless our efforts to satisfy not only physical hunger but real spiritual need.

Christmas Carol Sing Along and Community Luncheon

Sunday, December 8, 2024, 1:30 PM

• Cookie decorating activity for the children

• Sing Favorite Christmas Carols and Songs in English and Spanish

• Main course provided by St. Mark's and catered by Noodles and Company

Please sign up in the narthex for bringing a side dish or dessert.

Helpers are needed too. If you would like to help, please contact Edie Weekly.

Fun and Fellowship for the Entire Family!

Celebrating the Season of Advent

Cheerfully sponsored by St. Mark’s Fellowship and the Sunday School and Youth.

Military Packages Collection:

Thanks as always for your generous donations throughout the year …

Our December and final collections will be coming up and information will be given as soon as we hear from our next recipients.

Again, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!

Flower Committee

The Flower Committee needs new members. If you are interested in joining the flower committee to help “dress” the altar on Sundays, please contact Trudy Stellar. We will be happy to train you. Click HERE for more information!

2024 Flower Deditations: Click HERE for the form to dedicate flowers or one or more Sundays in 2024!

Flower Ministry

On Mondays and Tuesdays the Flower Ministry team delivers small arrangements made from the altar flowers to St. Mark's members who are sick or housebound. We are in need of more volunteers to deliver. Please contact Lance Quesenberry lques48@gmail.com or call 703-401-1500 if you would like to volunteer or would like to ask questions.

YOU ARE INVITED …

** The Prayer Ministry invites anyone who is interested in committing to a renewed prayer life at St. Mark's to join us on Sundays after the service at 11:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall. Learn more HERE!!!

** Also, the "Watch and Pray" Lunch Bunch is scheduled for Tuesdays at NOON in the Fellowship Hall. Bring a bag lunch and come to share in prayer, food, and fellowship. All are welcome. Contact Ken Anderson for information.

** Everyone is invited to join the on-going Wednesday morning (10:00) “Watch and Pray” meeting via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/894781064 (password 5800) 

For questions or more information contact Raelene Long (llong41@verizon.net) or Cherry Moser (clmoser@cox.net).

Food For Others is in need of extra food—and extra people on Tuesday evenings. Please bring non-parishable food to the Narthex.
Thank you!

The last several weeks, we have been seeing a big surge in demand for our FFO food distribution on Tuesdays. Our FFO pantry helps to provide protein in our food distribution and to provide food when all the fresh food runs out. The goods donated by the supermarkets are primarily fruits, vegetables, and carbohydrates, not protein. Your monetary contributions will help us purchase many identical canned goods so they can be efficiently stored.

The increase in demand for our FFO distribution is taxing on the teams who receive, organize, and distribute the items. If you can spare a few hours on a Tuesday afternoon at 5:00 PM-6:30 PM, please consider helping one of our four FFO teams. No experience necessary. If you can help, even just one week, it will help us navigate this surge we are experiencing in demand. For further questions, please contact Debbie Brown, Nan Ackerman, or anybody you know who participates in our FFO teams. 

We are again running low on our empty egg carton supply. If you have empty egg cartons, please bring them to church again!

Please place your donations in the box in the narthex.