Outreach is at the core of who we are as a faith community. We are ready to participate in outreach projects when we have identified a particular need. We would like to be recognized as a “compassionate church”.
St Mark’s, in partnership with the Suzuki Foundation, made our grounds pollinator friendly in 2019! Our garden bed is the inside of a canoe. The canoe reflects our Canadian heritage with our indigenous and European explorers who used this essential and versatile boat throughout the wilderness. We also recognize and celebrate our continued use of canoes for fun and recreation. The wildflowers bear nectar and pollen throughout the growing season, all of which are attractive to and essential food for bees, hummingbirds, moths, flies and butterflies. These animals are effective pollinators which help to fertilize our fruits and vegetables – essential for our survival!
One of the initiatives we sponsor is “Holy Chefs”, an adult group of people with intellectual disabilities who meet at St. Mark’s weekly to socialize and participate in a cooking class. We also support the Circle of Friends, a group of individuals with intellectual disabilities that meets weekly at St. Mark’s to socialize, play games and participate in crafts.
We are consistently responsive to the community in these ways:
- We participate annually in a drive to fill backpacks with school supplies for some of the children in need who attend G.B. Little School, right next door to us, as well as Galloway Road School.
- We participate in the Out of the Cold program.
- We have a Christmas Hamper program, providing gifts to those in need through the Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
- We reach out to the community through events such as our Annual Yard sale, which includes donations to families in need, the Bike Safety Rodeo and Community Movie Nights which are extremely popular.
- We have a yearly ‘Mitten Tree’, donating much needed winter wear to G.B. Little and Galloway Road Schools.
- We run the St. Mark’s Milk for Youth Program. The program provides a once weekly serving of milk to 415 boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 16 to supplement the snack program in 15 locations in this organization’s after school program.
We have relationships with a wide range of groups including:
- Girls and Boys Club
- Storefront
- GB Little School
- Galloway Road School
- Holy Chefs
- Circle of Friends
- Girl Guides of Canada
- Other churches in area – Good Friday shared services
- Curran Hall Community Association
- Curran Hall Parks and Recreation
- Community Living Association
- Gardening – special interests
- Cooking classes
- Agincourt Community Services
- Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities (SCHC)