ASBURY FIRST MONDAY READER | NOVEMBER 9, 2026

CONTENTS:

MORE THAN OURS: A HALLOWEEN PARTY PLANNED BY OUR NEIGHBORS by REV. PAT DUPONT

DINING IN FOR OUTREACH'S HONOREES by DIANA LOUISE CARTER

On Friday, October 30 there was a party in the Community Outreach Center's Dining & Caring Center (DCC).

Dozens gathered outside of our usual DCC hours to celebrate Halloween and to throw a surprise birthday party for one of our meal program staff members. While the Community Outreach Center space, staff and volunteers supported this effort, the event was entirely planned and thrown by our neighbors — a small group of people who first came to the Center because they found themselves in need of the support we provide.

I am so excited to share this story. I love that the Community Outreach Center is becoming co-owned with our neighbors. I am heartened to see our broader community becoming stakeholders in our mission and contributors to our offerings. I am thrilled that alongside tangible service provision, we are also fostering human connection and relationships, encouraging people to share their gifts, and growing into a new kind of community space.

Shared leadership has been a goal since the launch of the Community Outreach Center in 2023. Our COC team is looking forward to continuing to support this kind of work and plans are already being made for a similar gathering for the holidays. Stay tuned for an invitation! 

Our work through the COC is powerful. It is even more powerful when the work isn't just "ours."

Interesting in finding a way to support the Community Outreach Center at Asbury First?

A good place to start is by signing up to volunteer. Visit asburyfirst.org/outreach-volunteer and let us know a little about yourself!

As part of this year’s Dining In For Outreach fundraiser, we’d like to recognize some very special volunteers who have shown extraordinary care for our neediest neighbors. 

Bob Castle has led Asbury First’s Outreach programs for years. He began in the Dining and Caring Center and later became head of the Outreach Committee when its first leader stepped away, a commitment of about fifteen years. He also served on both Outreach Task Forces and the organizing team for One Great Week of Service, envisioned by former Pastor Mark Rawls. With his wife, Barbara, an active volunteer in her own right, he has joined several adult mission trips and helped build homes in the Miami area with groups like Habitat for Humanity. He is also active on the Social Concerns team, particularly on housing.

Bonnie Kay is always among the first to volunteer. She co-led the Asbury First Storehouse for three years and still volunteers there, working regular shifts and helping organize fundraising sales. She served on the first Outreach Task Force and represented the Storehouse on the Outreach Committee. A retired school librarian, she has long served on the Library Committee and helps with educational programs such as Banned Books Week. She and her husband, Dave, also a regular volunteer, were part of the crew that built homes in the Miami area.

John Smalt may be the reason you received a small wooden cross from an Asbury First pastor during an illness or hospital stay. He either carved it himself or taught someone else to. A retired special education teacher, John has headed the Help Me Read program at School 17 for about 20 years, coordinating volunteers who work one-on-one with children from one of Rochester’s poorest neighborhoods to build their reading skills. He has traveled far to build homes for those in need, led painting projects during One Great Week of Service, served on both Outreach Task Forces, and now sits on the reorganized Outreach Committee.

The late Rev. Margie Mayson left Asbury First more than 20 years ago and died unexpectedly 5 years later, yet her spirit endures. Pastor Margie devoted herself to building discipleship- focused small groups and sparked our labyrinth in Fellowship Hall, but she also provided pivotal inspiration for Outreach. She encouraged the creation of the Dining and Caring Center and suggested the fundraiser that has raised tens of thousands of dollars for outreach, which we celebrate today as Dining In for Outreach.

Would you like to submit a story for inclusion in a future Monday Reader? Please do! 
We'd love to hear from you. Email David Stith at dstith@asburyfirst.org to get started.