What’s cooking at St. John’s?

November 1, 2022

By Kristena Schutt-Moore

After a long hiatus St. John’s Anglican Church is once again able to offer outreach and fun events to the community. Many events and programs are returning to help support the community after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Community Lunches are now being served every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost is $6 per person to eat in or $6.50 to eat out. It is a full course meal including dessert and choice of tea or coffee. The lunch is operated by a separate board of volunteers, but the lunch has been held in the St. John’s hall for almost 20 years and many volunteers are from St. John’s.

This outreach program helps bring nutritious meals to area residents and provides an opportunity for friends and families to gather over a hot home cooked style meal. The Community Lunches now also provides 37 meals to CARE North Hastings for their Meals on Wheels program every Tuesday.

This spring the Anglican Church Women from both St. Johns and Holy Trinity Church in Maynooth created a cookbook. The book called From Our Table to Yours is a collection of recipes from the ACM ladies and their friends and families. The book is currently on sale for $20 and the funds raised from the sales will be going towards food programs in the communities, including the Maynooth and Area Food Bank, the Tri-Township Food Basket in Coe Hill, and North Hastings Community Cupboard. The books are available for purchase at the Community Lunches, at different stores within the community or by calling 613-337-8673.

The Loonie Auction will be returning to St. John’s on Saturday, Nov. 12. The event will start at 11:30 a.m. and the volunteers will be serving soup, sandwich and dessert lunch for $5. The bidding will begin at 12:30 p.m. and they are already collecting an array of themed gift baskets for participants to win. People can come alone, or book a table and come as a group. Participants will “bid” on an item by purchasing a ticket for a loonie. Then use the ticket by placing it in the corresponding bag of the basket they wish to bring home, and at the end a ticket is drawn. The successful bidder is the one with the winning ticket. This event is one of the most successful events and fundraisers St. John’s hosts and the church hall often echoes with laughter during the event. This year there is an estimated 37 gift baskets up for bids.

St. John’s Mission Outreach Committee called Reaching Hands is also returning. The group is aided by church funds and personal donations. Community organizations locally, nationally and internationally are assisted through the funds raised. In the past the organizations Reaching Hands have helped have included the North Hastings Community Cupboard, North Hastings Community Trust, Kids In Need, Red Cross, Disaster Relief, and the community Christmas dinner. Occasionally, through an organization, a member of the community in dire straits is helped such as fire victims, and those in medical emergencies. This committee is one of a kind within the Diocese that St. John’s is a part of.

With the pandemic over St. John’s volunteers plan to bring back many of their community events and fundraisers and are looking forward to maybe starting a few new ones.