The Community

Chalmers Community Service Centre

Chalmers Community Service Centre (CCSC) provides food, clothing and household items at two different locations in Guelph, Chalmers Downtown (41 Macdonell St. and Chalmers West (577 Willow Rd.). Knox supports them in this service by collecting food donations monthly.

Please consider donating using clothing to Chalmers Community Service Centre. These locations also provide clothing to those in need in our community: The Guelph Food Bank (100 Crimea Street), Clothing Closet, New Life Church (400 Victoria Rd. N.).

Chalmers Vision: A world without poverty, where communities are flourishing with dignity, equality and food security for all.

Thank you to all who continue to generously give to this program.

Each month Chalmers advises Knox about the item(s) that they would like us to collect.

To learn more about Chalmers Community Services Centre (CCSC), please visit their website.

http://chalmerscentre.ca

The Mission and Outreach Committee is encouraging the congregation to give the item of each month on the 3rd Sunday.

In January, Knox’s donations to Chalmers totaled 161 lbs!

Knox set a goal in 2024 to raise 1,600lbs of donations. We are excited to share that Knox's 2024 donations to Chalmers totaled 1, 719.2 lbs!!

Chalmers has written: "We are so grateful for your ongoing support. Your generosity directly helps Chalmers to continue or mission of creating a more equitable, food secure community."

Food Donation Item of the Month Below:

Many people have been asking what can be donated. If you can donate any of these items, it would be appreciated.

January- canned tomatoes

February- canned kidney beans

March- canned tuna

April-canned fava beans

May- cereal

June- canned corn

July- canned peas

August- store bought jam

September- honey

October- canned fruit

November- canned pasta sauce

December- chocolates/ sweets

Please note: We are also always in need of peanut butter, toilet paper and skim milk powder each month.

For NON-GUESTS: Financial donations are also appreciated.

Please consider donating by clicking the Chalmers website above.

Chalmers thanks their Church Partners for their ongoing support.

CORE Emergency Assistance

As followers of Jesus, our goal is to assist in caring for people in our local community who are facing poverty issues. Knox, along with some other churches in Guelph joined together to form Churches’ OutREach Guelph (CORE) Emergency Assistance.

Knox provides Prescriptions (non-narcotic) on an emergency basis. Assistance is available at the Church Office on Monday to Friday 9 am to 1 pm. Knox also contributes to the Chalmers Community Services Food Shelf.

For other services available in Guelph, ask at the office for details.

Royal City Christian Life Centre

Royal City Christian Life Centre at 50 Quebec St. provides up to 600 meals, and a variety of programs at no charge each week. This provides a safe and loving environment for anyone who is in need. Knox Church contributes financially to this important service that helps to build community in Guelph through our annual donation from the Endowment Fund and a certain percentage from our Lenten offering.

Meals are: Monday – Thursday at 7 pm

Friday – 1 pm

Saturday 6 pm

Knox Church contributes financially to this important service that helps to build community in Guelph through our annual donation from the Endowment Fund , as well as a certain percentage from our Lenten and Thanksgiving offerings.

Knox also has special "Grounds for GIving" Sundays throughout the year, collecting coffee to donate to Royal City to support their outreach work needs. Most recently, Our “Grounds for Giving” day on November 3^rd saw 26 cans of coffee and $65 being donated to Royal City Mission to support their work.

Robyn Ferrier, Fundraising

KAIROS

kairos

KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives is a faith-based organization that works for social change in Canada and around the world. The Presbyterian Church in Canada is a member of Kairos.

The word means "time" in the sense of the opportune time, the right time, or the fullness of time.

In KAIROS thirteen Canadian churches,including The Presbyterian Church in Canada, work together to promote social justice- that is, fairness for all peoples.

KAIROS Guelph promotes and attends events to educate ourselves about social justice issues. We heard women from Grassy Narrows Reserve speak about their hopes for the lives of their grandchildren; we heard Marty Molengraff and members of Duff's Prespyterian Church tell about how they are becoming engaged with the people of a northern reserve; we participated in a weekend seminar on Spirituality and Native Wisdom.

We care about all Creation- the water, the air, the earth matter to us.

If you have a heart for social justice work, come on out!

Joy Killen

2018 GUELPH-WELLINGTON POINT-IN-TIME COUNT RE HOMELESSNESS IN GUELPH

In April, our community supported a Point-in-Time Count. This enumeration of families and individuals experiencing homelessness includes those living unsheltered, temporarily sheltered (i.e. couch surfing), emergency sheltered, and in unknown locations. The count was conducted over a three-day period in Guelph and over a seven-day period in Wellington County.

We are pleased to share with you the results of the count, including information on specific sub-populations. The information is meant to provide a snapshot of homelessness in our community at a specific point-in-time and should be used to inform service provision, resource allocation, and target setting toward ending homelessness.

Read the full report here: 2018 Guelph-Wellington Point-in-Time Count

http://www.gwpoverty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Everyone-Counts-2018-Point-in-Time-Count.pdf

They are Canadians!

On July 22, 2024, the six children of Ayak Majak officially became citizens of Canada. Sponsored by St. Andrew’s and Knox, the family arrived in Guelph on September 24, 2020. Please see the attached photo. Back row (l to r): Monydeh, Mayek and Riel; front row (l tor): Ajak, Elia and Mabor.

Until she has been here for 5 years, the bureaucratic road to citizenship for Ayak is somewhat complicated so, she will wait until September of 2025 to apply.

Run for the Cure

Knox's Giving Tree

Intergenerational Faith and Fun

Knox was a-buzz on Saturday December 7th as 50 people gathered for fun afternoon and evening organized jointly by the Intergenerational Faith and Fun team & Mission and Outreach Committee. Crafting, enjoying food and fellowship, viewing the Santa parade together AND reaching out to the community through handing out free candy canes with a missional message and invitation to our Christmas Eve services all while selling hot chocolate, popcorn filled the evening which ended in carol singing filled our day! Thank you to everyone who supported the preparations in advance, during the day, and to everyone who attended. $215 was raised through sales for the Refugee Fund. Stay tuned in the new year for future Intergenerational Faith & Fun (I.F.F.) events, and Mission & Outreach initiatives.