Giving of ourselves to our church community and to our neighborhood communities is essential to our way of living out our faith. Below are some of the ways we do it. We welcome all new ideas and volunteers to make them happen.

  • Blessing of the Animals on St. Francis Feast Day
  • Sandwiches on Sunday – serving a hot lunch at Fair Oaks Center in Redwood City
  • Interfaith Hospitality Network
  • Samaritan House Donations
  • Senior Stocking Stuffers Christmas Program
  • Second Harvest Food Bank Donations
  • Raising funds for the Rotary Elementary School at Mongkol Borei, Cambodia
  • Raising funds for the Heifer Project
  • Funerals, Weddings, and Receptions
  • Use of the Building by AA, Crystal Children’s Choir, and other community organizations

Blessing of the Animals

On October 1st we celebrated the Feast of St. Francis by blessing pets and their owners at church services.

Typically, 30 members of the larger community and their two-legged guardians receive a blessing from our priests.

Outreach Donations

Most of the Outreach activities in which we have participated have been severely circumscribed by the coronavirus. However, the financial need of the programs we support has never been greater. Below are the contributions we have made this year:

Program
Cambodia Academy $600
Church Divinity School of the Pacific 1,800
El Buen Pastore 2,950
Episcopal Relief and Development – Haiti 1,000
Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) 300
Home and Hope 300
Ombudsman Services of San Mateo County 500
Total from Outreach Budget $7,450

Cambodia Academy of Mongkol Borei – $600: St. Ambrose pays for the tuition, books, uniforms, meals, and transportation for two students. We have sponsored Mai Chantra (boy) and Chheng Vipha (girl) since 2017. The Cambodia Academy provides an education for over 300 students and is open to students who are too poor to attend Cambodia public schools.

Church Divinity School of the Pacific – $1,800: The expectation of the Diocese is that we donate at least 1% of our annual Pledge Total to CDSP. Since 2015 the amount has been $1,800, roughly 50% above the minimum requirement in 2021. David Ota, Jay Watan, Daniel Tate, Rebecca Goldberg, and many Bay Area Episcopal clergy are graduates of the seminary.

El Buen Pastor – $2,950: This year St. Ambrose raised its annual contribution to El Buen Pastor, the Episcopal Church’s Spanish-speaking congregation on the Peninsula. Its Vicar, the Reverend Anna B. Lange-Soto, retired in 2020. “Mother Anna” was a regular visitor and speaker at St. Ambrose events. EBP’s continuation had been in doubt, but in October the congregation received the good news that the Diocese had given them full-fledged recognition.

Clara Padilla and Diane Robertson serve dinner at Home and Hope.

Episcopal Relief and Development, Haiti – $1,000: St. Ambrose made a $1,000 donation for Haiti 2021 earthquake relief. Beginning with the Haiti earthquake in 2011, St. Ambrose has been making donations to disaster relief (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires). ERD is an excellent vehicle for making sure that funds are not misdirected.

Global Aids Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) – $300: For 13 years we have supported this organization which battles AIDS in Africa, where millions are afflicted.  One of the founders was Bill Rankin, a retired Episcopal minister from the Bay Area, who has spoken to our congregation.

Home and Hope – $300: Since its founding in 2002, St. Ambrose has been a member of Home and Hope (homeandhope.net) and its predecessor, the Interfaith Hospitality Network. Home and Hope consists of 30 Peninsula churches and synagogues which provide temporary shelter for families displaced by job loss, family breakup, and sudden loss of housing. St. Ambrose makes dinner for four families who are sheltered at San Mateo’s Hope Lutheran, usually for 3 or 4 separate one-week periods during the year. Sheltering at churches has been suspended, and Home and Hope has been under severe financial strain as it has been paying for hotel rooms to fill the need.

Ombudsman Services of San Mateo County – $500: Elder-care facilities have been hard-hit by COVID-19, and OSSMC’s function as inspector is now even more important.  Diane Robertson is a volunteer.