St. Mark's in Warwick Spreads The Word to Make a Difference

Spreading the word, expanding your reach

In the social media age, it's not enough just to have a good idea: You also need to spread the word and invite people to help you meet your goals.

Before                                      After

That's just what the Rev. Susan Wrathall of St. Mark's in Warwick has done, and the results are astounding. Four years ago when she arrived at St. Mark's, Susan recognized a hunger in her congregation -- a need for physical sustenance -- and has encouraged the congregation to work toward meeting that need.

Early efforts included putting together a "street sheet" listing community resources for those in need in and around Warwick. The church has since started a monthly free lunch program and food pantry.

The exciting thing is how these efforts have gained the support of Mayor Scott Avedisian and the entire Warwick community, as described in this article from the Providence Journal.

Susan writes that the results have been nothing short of extraordinary:

"If you look on our Facebook page, you can find pictures of the brimming shelves. What you can't see is just as much still in boxes. Our biggest donor was the Cumberland Senior Center with 30 boxes of food. Many folks have stopped by with bags and bags of nonperishable and toiletry items. Some folks who donated for the March lunch stopped by today to donate for the April lunch. A number of folks have indicated they want to do this monthly. And to date we have received close to $4,000 in monetary donations (a couple in memory of Fr. Franklin). There was one error in the Journal article that I want to correct: They said not everyone who needs the food pantry gets to visit it. What I said was everyone gets something but the first 50 percent of the folks get the best choice (we let folks choose what they put in their grocery bag) and for the last 15 folks or so there is often little left but canned veggies. In March we had a record 93 for lunch, and 65 households visited the food pantry (111 adults and 25 children)."

How might you leverage local politicians and local media to build up your own ministries?

http://www.stmarkswarwick.org/

http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140304-keeping-food-pantry-stocked-at-warwick-church-is-a-challenge-video.ece