March

Saturday March 29, 2008
Students Take Part in “Action Hour”
On Saturday March 29th over 15 students from St. Louis and Kentucky’s Muslim Student Association came to help paint the Kinloch Learning Center.  This project is part of an ongoing initiative between The City of Kinloch and Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls.  The goal of the Kinloch Learning Center is to provide ongoing after school activities for the children in the Kinloch community.  Volunteers were participating in the National Muslim Student Association’s annual conference held by University of Missouri St. Louis.  Students were encouraged to volunteer as a part of the “Action Hour” initiative through MSA National.  Special thanks to Felicia Pulliam-Jones of The City of Kinloch and Mariam Mahmoud MSA National’s Action Hour Coordinator. 

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February

February 12-13th
Seeking Justice In Health Care
Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls sponsored workshops for Missouri’s faith leaders and health advocates to learn how to effectively interact within health care discussions. As the 2008 Election Season moves closer, health care advocates want to ensure that health care reform remains in the forefront of the candidate platforms. However, in order to achieve significant changes to our health care system, the discussion needs to move away from one of fiscal and political implications, into one of moral obligations and personal values.
            Missouri Foundation for Health funded two workshops, one in Jefferson City and one in St. Louis, titled Seeking Justice in Health Care.  Rev. Linda Walling from Faithful Reform in Health Care was our presenter. Rev. Walling co-authored Seeking Justice in Health Care: A Guide for Advocates in Faith Communities, which was the basis for the workshops.  This guide was developed to help laypersons better understand the crisis in U.S. health care through the lens of justice and the measure of moral values. 
            Despite bad winter weather, the turnout at both events was great and the attendees were very engaged. Through these workshops we were able to educate the community about health care issues, provide participants with the tools to speak about health care issues from a moral perspective and create a network of congregations and individuals of faith wanting to be more active in health care advocacy.

For more information about Rev. Linda Walling’s work please visit http://www.faithfulreform.org

February 11-14
MICDS Students Volunteer at Kinloch, Lydia’s House
During the week of Valentine’s Day, high school students from Mary Institute Country Day School certainly spread the love. A group of 25, the students did not have classes this week; rather, they experienced an immersion in service work. For the first two days, the students dedicated their efforts to the city of Kinloch. After an in-depth study of the area’s history, they worked at the Kinloch Learning Center and Daycare, cleaning and doing floor repairs. The snow on the ground did not keep them from painting doors outside either! Another day in Kinloch entailed assembling baskets for the homeless, filled with food, toiletries, gloves, hats, and toys for the children. The students were eager to give their help and learned much from the leaders of the Kinloch community.

The next couple of days were at Lydia’s House, which provides transitional housing for women and children who were involved in domestic violence. First, the students helped with a full reorganization of the storage room, which holds all of the donations. The MICDS volunteers were told that the following day, they would be preparing an apartment for a mother and her children from Kenya. Back at school, the students decided to bring in food and new toys to make the apartment more inviting for the family. The next day, after cleaning the apartment, the volunteers stocked the shelves with an overload of food for the new family. The students were so grateful to have the experience with Faith Beyond Walls. Special thanks to Felicia Pulliam-Jones of the City of Kinloch and Lydia’s House!

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Saturday February 9, 2008
Volunteers Help Provide 14,548 Meals to the Hungry
On Saturday February 9, 2008 21 volunteers from Maryville University and St. Lucas United Church of Christ helped sort through donated items at the St. Louis Area FoodBank.  The volunteers were able to process 17,821 pounds of food for a total of 626 cases of food.  All the items processed helped to provide 14,548 meals for the hungry!  The St. Louis Area Foodbank is a non-profit food distribution center for organizations that feed hungry people in 14 counties in eastern Missouri and 12 counties in southwestern Illinois.  Special thanks to Brett Moeller of the St. Louis Area Foodbank.

January

Saturday January 12, 2008
Small But Mighty Crew
On Saturday January 12th three volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came out to Lydia’s House.  Lydia’s House is a transitional housing unit for women and children who are rebuilding their lives after leaving a domestic violent situation.  Volunteers were able to clean two full apartments to get ready for a new family and helped sort and organization donations in the storage room given to Lydia’s House during the holiday season.  Thank you to the volunteers who’s faith drives them to serve others in need!  Special thanks to Janel Uelk of Lydia’s House! 

Sunday January 6, 2008
Raising Awareness of Poverty Through Experience
On Saturday January 6, 2008 students of the seventh and eighth grade classes at Congregation Shaare Emeth learned about the realities of poverty. Interfaith Partnership/ Faith Beyond Walls helped to facilitate discussions on poverty by hosting a Community Action Agency Poverty Simulation at Shaare Emeth.  These students role played families living in poverty for four simulated weeks, 15 minute sessions.  After going through these thought provoking sessions, students then discussed how their faith calls them to take action towards poverty.  Special thanks to Shayna Warner and Liessa Alperin from Shaare Emeth who worked hard to bring their students this eye opening experience.

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