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St. George Table
For many years, St. George’s Mission operated as a resource center for
unhoused persons and families in Riviera Beach. Two years ago the mission closed, pending
demolition and rebuilding as a new, expanded facility to be known as Heart of Palm. In the
interim, the Mission has been operating on a limited basis out of nearby Victory City Church.
Five days a week, hot meals are prepared off site and served to 180-200 people per day; guests
are also given a ‘to go’ bag containing a sandwich and snacks. A member of our Outreach
Committee, Denise Preston, serves as Vice Chair of the organization and coordinates the meal
program. Good Shepherd is one of many churches and organizations that prepares hot meals
(twice per month). We also have teams who make sandwiches for the ‘to go’ bags, and
contribute snacks and toiletries.
If you are interested in helping with this vital program, please let us know!
For further information, please call, text or email Denise Preston (908-279-4809 or denisepreston@mac.com).
Food Packing For Haiti at Good Shepherd
One of the largest items in our Outreach budget is the South Florida Haiti Project. This is a diocesan-wide program to aid and support the community of Bondeau, Haiti, located on the southern peninsula of the island. Two of our Outreach Committee members, Teresa Grashof and Katharine Murray, serve on the Board of SFHP, and Teresa is the Vice Chair of the organization. Here at Good Shepherd we are most familiar with the project through the annual Food Packing for Haiti event, when 350 people gather in shifts to pack 75,000 packets of rice and beans to feed the children in the Bondeau schools.
But the SFHP encompasses much more than food-packing! The project pays the salaries of the teachers and staff who support the 450 students in the schools. Over the years the project has built school buildings and a guest house; helped to develop a source of potable water; provided medical care; and in cooperation with Food for the Poor, helped to develop a local industry.
The current instability in the country due to gangs controlling most of the capital city of Port-au-Prince has drastically affected life for everyone in Haiti. Travel is virtually impossible. Supplies – including food and medicines – are often unavailable, and when they can be obtained the cost is astronomical. Families are divided: this past summer the community of Boneau created a summer camp for the 100 children sent to Bondeau for safety by families in Port-au-Prince. Many of these children have stayed in Bondeau, and the schools now have 100 more students than planned who must be housed, educated and fed.
The SFHP continues to provide funding and offer support. And we ask for your continuing heartfelt prayers.
Good Shepherd Gleaning Opportunities
CROS Ministries Gleaning is a produce recovery program that rescues fresh fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste. Volunteers help gather surplus produce from farms located in Hendry, Martin, and Palm Beach Counties; and the Solid Waste Authority’s mango grove in Lantana. Our main gleaning season runs from November through June, with smaller backyard gleans during the months of August and September. A portion of the recovered produce supports CROS Ministries’ food pantries and the Caring Kitchen program, while distribution partners help deliver the rest to local meal programs and pantries. CROS Ministries provides food for the hungry and the food insecure in collaboration with our partners in the community. Join us for weekly gleaning events! Here’s what we have planned:
It's Mango Season!
*July 10 : Lantana (Mangoes and Grove Prep) Check-in 7:45 AM, harvest begins at 8:00 AM
*July 11: Lantana (Mangoes and Grove Prep) Check-in 7:45 AM, harvest begins at 8:00 AM
We’ll continue to take Sundays off during June, July, and August due to the summer heat. We hope to see you again when we resume our regular Sunday schedule in January!
We hope to see you there! Please let us know which event(s) you plan to attend. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Good Shepherd Food Pantry
Good Shepherd Food Pantry is open every Tuesday between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Donations of non-perishable food items are always welcome! Anyone who is in need of food is welcome - the Pantry is a life-line for so many food-insecure people in our community. Often, people visit the food pantry for temporary relief from hunger, or people may be experiencing a financial setback, resulting in a continued food-insecure status. Good Shepherd's Food Pantry is supported by donations of food from our parishioners, people in our neighborhood, and community partners. We do not receive any governmental financial support. Visit the Food Pantry page for details and opportunities to support the ministry with donations of non-perishable food items.
Warfield School
Good Shepherd has a long-standing relationship with the Warfield School in Indiantown. Warfield is an 800-student Title I elementary school which serves primarily the children of farm workers. Each summer Good Shepherd conducts a Back to School drive, where we collect backpacks and assorted school supplies for the children.
This project is advertised well in advance, and donations may be brought to Good Shepherd for delivery, or may be ordered from Amazon and sent directly to the school. In addition, each Spring we conduct a Hygiene Kit collection, when we assemble Ziploc bags filled with soap, toothpaste, tissues and other essential items. The school nurses use these supplies to teach the students about proper hygiene.
But the partnership with Warfield includes more than giving supplies; we also give of ourselves. Under the direction of Outreach Committee member Sandy English, volunteers known as “Shepherd’s Flock” visit Warfield and read to the children. We are always looking for more volunteers for this program!
St. Raphael Outreach Partnership
Assisting the parish of St. Raphael in Ft. Meyers Beach, FL
Two and a half years ago, the powerful Category 5 Hurricane Ian struck Fr. Myers Beach, damaging or destroying every building on the island. The only church still standing – to this day! – was St. Raphael’s Episcopal Church. It became our 2022 Lenten Project, and it soon became our partnership.
It was almost a year before the surviving community was able to hold Sunday services in a local hotel. Good Shepherd provided the hymnals and prayer books and the altar furnishings as we continued to collect the furnishings and office supplies that they would need at a later date.
It was almost two years before they were able to assemble in their own Parish Hall, which to this day still lacks bathroom and kitchen facilities. But this tenacious community of faith has not just persevered, they have GROWN. They have a faithful priest-in-charge; they have a musician with a keyboard. And they are busily hosting community events including the annual Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet, scheduled for March 9, 2025. We continue to offer this remarkable community our on-going love and support; we pay occasional visits; and we keep them in prayer.
Lenten Outreach Project
Every year, the Outreach Committee proposes a Lenten Project, in which the entire Good Shepherd community can share in Lenten service and alms-giving. Over the years, we have filled an ark with animals for Heifer International, purchased mosquito nets for an anti-malarial program, and collected supplies and materials for a CROS ministry-sponsored summer camp for underprivileged children. In recent years we have focused on a different need: help for our brothers and sisters whose lives have been turned upside down by powerful storms.
These projects, in Marathon Fl., the Bahamas, and most recently Ft. Myers Beach, have involved everything from providing much-needed funds to collecting furniture and construction supplies, to sending a mission team to help with cleanup and repair. One year, we even bought a pickup truck to enable transportation of supplies.
This year, we will be focused on finishing construction and furnishing of Friendship House, in Bondeau, Haiti, a facility which serves as ‘home’ to many of the teachers in the school, and as a residence for visiting support teams. Lenten Outreach projects help to keep us all focused on the extraordinary gift of love that we have received and our calling to share that love with others.
Outreach Ministries
Our Outreach & Mission Committee partners with many other organizations to aid those in need both in our own community and abroad.
Gleaning
Several times each year, Good Shepherd Church and school partner with CROS ministries to glean produce from local fields. Depending on the season, volunteers pick corn, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and mangoes – or dig for potatoes! The season usually begins in late autumn and runs through May. Our Good Shepherd Food Pantry benefits from this ministry, and the produce provided is gratefully received by our many guests. Gleaning opportunities are always advertised in advance and there is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex; all are welcome!!
Good Shepherd has gleaning events where a group may go together, or you are always welcome to glean as an individual. CROS Ministries provides an information packet.
Run 4 the Pies
This annual Thanksgiving morning road race benefits our Good Shepherd Food Pantry. Sponsored by Palm Beach Roadrunners, the 2,000 or more participants pick up their packets in our Parish Hall in the days before the race, and all are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for our Pantry.
On Thanksgiving morning, they gather in front of the church and receive a blessing before striking out on their 4-mile run. There is also a Little Pilgrim Dash for children age 7 and under, which takes place on Seabrook Road right in front of the church. Volunteers are always needed to help with food collection, water distribution, handing out medals and pies, and many other functions. We definitely ‘have a place for you’ here!
Edna Runner Tutorial Center
The Edna Runner Center provides after-school and summer tutoring and support for students and families in the West Jupiter community. Good Shepherd has had a long-standing relationship with the Edna Runner Center. Many of our church members volunteer as tutors at the Center. Good Shepherd also serves as the supporting church, enabling the Edna Runner Center to apply for grants from Episcopal Charities. The Center would welcome additional volunteers!
Knitting for Seafarers
Every year, Good Shepherd Knitters knit scarves and hats for the men and women mariners who crew commercial vessels that sail in and out of Port Everglades and the Port of Palm Beach. One Sunday every autumn, these items are assembled on our altar where they are blessed before being delivered to a representative of the Seafarers. The items are most appreciated as these mariners sail the winter seas. Helping hands are always welcome in this ministry!
Prayer Shawl Ministry
The members of this ministry team prayerfully knit or crochet shawls and lap robes for those who are ill, home-bound, or experiencing particularly difficult times. Knitted garments are brought to the church to be blessed before they are distributed. The act of knitting a prayer shawl not only benefits the receiver, but the person knitting is also blessed through the generous giving of time and talent. There’s love in every stitch!
Guatemalan Tomorrow
This is a local charity, founded right here in Jupiter, which has done wonders in providing a sound education for mostly rural children in Guatemala who would not otherwise have any hope for their future. Through the generosity of many supporters throughout the U.S., children are offered a boarding school education where both boys and girls learn everything from basic academics and computer skills to how to build their own desks and bunks!
There is a heavy emphasis on training for the hospitality industry, and the school’s graduates are highly sought after and are virtually guaranteed gainful employment in local tourist establishments, thus helping not only themselves but also their families and their local communities. Our Outreach Committee regularly sponsors several children each year, and we heartily encourage others to do the same.
The Lord's Place
The Outreach committee makes an annual financial contribution to the work of this wonderful charity in West Palm Beach. The Lord’s Place takes a comprehensive approach to ending homelessness, offering not just housing but also health care, education, and job training for persons and families in need. Their facilities include Joshua’s Café, and they operate their own catering service. Many volunteer opportunities are available for those who would like to become more involved in their work.
Our Little Roses
This shelter for girls in Honduras was started by our former Bishop Leo Frade and his wife, Dr. Diane Frade. They provide long-term shelter and a vigorous education program for homeless and abandoned girls in Honduras.
Our Outreach Committee make an annual financial contribution to this program, and individual sponsorships are always available for anyone who feels called to support a child in need. Many of their graduates have gone on to have responsible careers in medicine, hospitality, industry and many other fields.
El Sol
While Good Shepherd does not have a financial relationship with this wonderful ministry in Jupiter, we do support them in other ways by occasionally sharing food donations, employing their workers when extra hands are needed, and helping with special projects. El Sol provides daily meals for those who gather seeking work, and helpers are always needed in the kitchen. For those who would like to become more involved, volunteers are also needed in many other fields, from teaching English and developing craft skills to offering counseling and legal assistance.
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