Charity Report – 2023

2023 was a blessed year for charity and social work. We are grateful, that in the midst of inflation and a spike in covid, our parish was able to make a difference in the lives of those facing difficult hardships within our local community as well as in India. Our parish disbursed $79,645 in donations during 2023. Here are some of the highlights.

SGOCI Charity

In 2023, our SGOCI charity organization disbursed $30,295 to various charity programs, supporting our local community and India as well.

  • Women’s Shelter Monthly Dinner Donors & Supplies Donation

    We are fortunate to work with this shelter for the past 9 years. Our parish volunteers continued to provide dinner for the women and children at our local shelter. This shelter provides temporary housing for 30 women and children. They depend on volunteers like us for their daily meals and we are thankful that we can continue to support this program.

  • Farmworker Families

    Farmworkerfamily.org is a non-profit organization that helps farm worker families in need. They are based around the Watsonville area. The plight of many of these farm workers is dire, often the families go hungry and struggle with the basic need of food and clothing. We dropped of rice, beans, masa flour and, cooking oil to be distributed among the families

  • St. Gregoriose Orthodox Scholarship Award

    The goal of this award is to identify meritorious students from difficult circumstances and provide them financial help to obtain a college education. The students identified for this award excel despite their tough personal struggles by being diligent and working hard. Students are selected based on their financial need, academic performance, personal achievements, and community service. These scholarships have been awarded to students from Arroyo High School for 5 consecutive years and to students from San Lorenzo High School for the last 3 years. We award $1000 per student selected. This year 5 students from Arroyo High School and 3 students from San Lorenzo High School were selected for the award.

  • School Backpacks

    We are grateful to be able to support this program since 2016. Our parish donated 300 backpacks with supplies to the underprivileged children from the Hayward, San Lorenzo and San Leandro school districts.

  • Christmas Meal Donation – Homeless Encampments (San Jose)

    Our parish sponsored a meal for 200 homeless individuals in San Jose for the fourth consecutive year. Individually packaged meals were distributed during Christmas. We have been supporting this program since 2019.

  • School Snack Program

    Our parish worked with Del Rey Elementary school and Hesperian Elementary school staff to distribute and provide healthy snacks to students who otherwise would go hungry. Both schools are from the San Lorenzo school district, and they are Title 1 schools, where many students come from low-income families.

  • Edendale Middle School donation

    Edendale Middle School, in San Lorenzo is a Title 1 school, and they support many students from low- income families, asylum seekers, refugees, undocumented families, and families experiencing homelessness. They have a unique program called the Newcomer Program which caters to English learners, equipping them with the language skills needed to thrive in the classroom.

    Recognizing the challenges some families face, Edendale Middle School goes above and beyond to support their students. SGOCI has partnered with the school to help bridge the gap by providing essential items like clothing and other basic supplies to students in need.

  • Contributions Local & Oversees

    Contributions totaling $7500 were made to 15 individual families, who faced physical infirmities, financial challenges and unforeseen circumstances.

    $2000 was donated to St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Church, Spokane, Washington. Fr. George Rajiv Thatcher is the vicar of this church. Majority of the members are struggling financially to pay their bills and need help with shelter, basic food and clothing.

    Spiritual Organizations:

  • MMVS:

    • Members held a MMVS charity fund raiser to collect and donate money to a family in India where the father was suffering from various health issues. This family was seeking help for a shelter. The $1050 generated from this fund raiser was transferred to this family in India.

    • Two food-sale events were held to raise money for Spokane Church, Washington. $2300 was collected and sent to this church.

    • On March 25th, MMVS conducted ‘Feed the Homeless’ event. Members came together to prepare, pack and deliver lunch bags to 60 homeless individuals in San Jose.

    • MMVS donated over 700 lbs ($715 worth) of rice, dry beans, masa flour and cooking oil to the Watsonville farm workers on May 9th.

    • Members cooked and delivered dinner for the Women & Children’ shelter, San Leandro on August 19th.

    • In collaboration with Creative Hands, MMVS members came together to crochet baby blankets and toys. 18 blankets and 15 octopus toys were donated to Kaiser Walnut Creek NICU unit.

  • Sunday School:

    • Sunday School raised funds for the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey. The $1000 raised was donated directly to the Orthodox church.

    • Sunday School donated handmade personalized cards and comfort kits to (BACC) Bay Area Cancer Connections organization. The comfort kit consisted of a lavendar pouch containing crossword puzzle books, woollen socks, fragrance free hand lotion, and a toy. All the sunday school children from pre-k to 12 grade were involved in making the cards and assembling the comfort totes.

  • Angel Tree:

    • Angel Tree is a program of Prison Fellowship that serves incarcerated parents. We facilitated donating Christmas presents to 33 children on behalf of their parents who are incarcerated.

  • Creative Hands:

    Baby Project (Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek): This was a heartfelt endeavor where a team of our dedicated parish women from MMVS came together to craft 17 warm baby blankets and 15 charming octopus toys. These handmade items were meticulously create with care, aiming to bring to those little babies in the NICU. Over a span of just over two months this collaborative effort resulted in uniquely special blankets and toys, showcasing the heartfelt dedication poured into each creation.

  • Homes for the Homeless (India): $45,000

    Aside from the charitable programs, Individual donors from our parish supported the building of 8 homes for poverty-stricken families last year. Some of these families lived under tarps or sheds and were exposed to the harsh elements of nature for many years.

    We are grateful to H.G. Dr. Yuhannon Mar Chrysosthomos, and H.G Yuhanon Mor Meletius who are leading the effort and doing commendable work of helping poor and needy families in Kerala.

    Vote of Thanks

    The generosity and charitable actions of our parish family has helped feed the hungry, clothed the poor, given shelter to the needy and, cared for the downtrodden.

    Proverbs 19:17 The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed.