FOSP MEMBER NEWS | APRIL 2021 |
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Friends,
As we embrace the arrival of a 2021 spring filled with hope, FOSP remains steadfast in its mission to serve the incredibly resilient St. Philip’s School and Community Center. This year already has presented unexpected challenges, and we continue to be thankful for our members’ willingness to step up and meet any need, particularly to support our amazing faculty and staff.
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Faculty and Staff Appreciation |
“Wellness Wednesdays” continue to be a big hit with the faculty and staff. February’s encouragement gift was “relaxation in a bottle,” an essential oil rollerball filled with soothing aromatherapy oil to calm and balance the mind when inhaled and placed on specific pulse points. In March, faculty and staff enjoyed a “sleep box” filled with bath salts, tea bags, and other relaxing items, along with a special gift of honey donated by San Fernando Farms, a local honey producer with ties to FOSP. Our Treasurer, Annelise Petersen, and her family are the proprietors and beekeepers! April’s gift is home entertainment in a box with a list of family-friendly movies, candy, and microwave popcorn, followed by another creative take on wellness in May.
Gratitude shout out to the Faculty and Staff Appreciation committee for their thoughtful efforts with this project.
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Teacher Appreciation Week and End-of-Year Celebration – Assistance Needed |
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We are so proud of St. Philip’s faculty and staff for their commitment, dedication, and care shared with students and neighbors over the past year. Plans are underway to thank them in a major way in May during Teacher Appreciation Week and with an exciting end-of-year celebration. Donations of items such as gift cards to clothing stores, restaurants, specialty stores, etc., for special raffle prizes, are needed and appreciated. To donate, contact Tina Stansbury ( email). |
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Our General Membership Meeting took place on Wednesday, February 10, via Zoom. Ashlee Kleinert (Ruthie’s Rolling Café), Chad Houser (Café Momentum), and Dr. Froswa Booker-Drew (VP of Community Affairs and Strategic Alliances for the State Fair of Texas) spoke about their involvement with the St. Philip’s community and South Dallas. Thank you to the many members who joined us for this inspiring virtual event. If you missed the event or would like to share it with others, click here for a recording of the meeting.
Our year-to-date membership base stands at 204 members. A warm welcome to our new members and a big thank you to those who already have renewed! We hope if you joined us in our inaugural year that you will consider renewing your membership. We can’t wait until we can meet again in person. Please continue to share the Friends' mission with others.
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We are thrilled to announce that effective July 1, 2021, Tina Stansbury will assume the role of President of Friends of St. Philip's. Tina and her husband, Dan, are founding members of Friends of St. Philip's and longtime supporters of the St. Philip's Community. Tina has been a fierce champion for our Faculty and Staff in her current role as VP of Faculty/Staff Appreciation. Paula Mitchell will remain active as past president/board advisor.
With Tina's transition, we are in need of a new VP of Faculty/Staff Appreciation. If you are interested in serving in this role, please email Tina. |
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A joyous welcome to our newest FOSP board member, Felecia Burns. Felecia, former SPSCC parent and chaplain and director of Sisterhood at Austin Street Center, joins Friends as our Board Chaplain. As advocates for our St. Philip’s community, we know the power of prayer and are excited to expand our ministry with a new prayer committee. To join our prayer committee or to submit a prayer request, email spsccfriendsprayers@gmail.com.
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BINGO, BBQ, and the BLUES |
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RESCHEDULED!!!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
Edison’s – 1724 Cockrell Ave., Dallas
For more information, email Martha Johnston |
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Friends of St. Philip’s T-Shirts |
Have you seen our new Friends t-shirts? Show your FOSP support while volunteering or out and about by wearing these fun shirts designed by FOSP member Kris Bradford. The shirts are available to purchase online for $25 here. Proceeds benefit FOSP outreach. |
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Friends Bring Easter Blessings |
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Candace Winslow, FOSP Lifetime Member and executive director of the Storehouse of Collin County, offered St. Philip’s 80 hams left from their Thursday distribution. What a blessing it was to deliver this bounty to our neighbors on Good Friday! The Storehouse also gave us 25- pound bags of produce that we also distributed. Our neighbors were delighted, and the Community Services team had fun with the surprise Easter deliveries—the second significant donation from the Storehouse. At Thanksgiving, they gave us 121 turkeys that we were able to share with neighbors. We love this collaboration between our agencies in North and South Dallas. Thank you again to Candace and the Storehouse for this wonderful Easter blessing!! |
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Vaccine Registration Site |
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Friends also played an instrumental role in February as Vaccine Registration volunteers. St. Philip’s partnered with the City of Dallas to host the center with a mission to register and prescreen our neighbors to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through Dallas County. Many in the community don’t have internet access or were unaware of the process. We worked out of the Doherty Family Fieldhouse for three weeks, registering walk-ups and drive-ups, and made calls to neighbors 65 and older. Simultaneously, Pantry volunteers signed up folks as they drove through for their food on Monday and Wednesday mornings. A total of 315 individuals were registered through this initiative! FOSP was well represented in this critical effort. Thank you! The ongoing goal is to educate, engage and empower the community to have all the information necessary to make an informed decision. We continue to help neighbors with their vaccination efforts. |
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Aunt Bette’s Community Pantry |
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Friends have been active volunteers in the Pantry in the first quarter of 2021. As many of you know, the Pantry serves neighbors two mornings each week (Monday and Wednesday). Everyone who drives through (or walks up) receives a sizeable amount of food, including non-perishables, dairy, produce, bread, and frozen meats. |
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Tracy Fulton & the Tolleson Team |
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Volunteers pick up daily from the Mockingbird/Skillman store to transport donated surplus meals to the Pantry. These meals benefit our Emergency Neighbors we serve (those that are registered because they do not live in 75210 or 75215 or need food between their bi-monthly appointments). Volunteers deliver meals seven days a week –either directly to the Pantry or to our partners at Cornerstone Baptist Church. A special note of thanks to Kathleen Cox and Carol Riddle, who have a weekly route, and Ginny Searcy, who coordinates the Sunday surplus collections through her YMSL Dallas Chapter. Last fall, four of our stores closed, sending our regular volunteers—Cathy Anwyl, Karen Eubanks, Susan Griffiths, Vicki Eastland, and Dotti Singhal—to the “sub list.” We are very appreciative of all our FOSP volunteers. Every meal picked up matters. |
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Each week volunteers transport 400 to 500 pounds of bulk lettuce and other greens from a hydroponic greenhouse in Cleburne. Once the Pantry has absorbed all that it can, we share this blessing with other South Dallas agencies: Cornerstone Baptist, CitySquare, Dallas Bethlehem Center, Jubilee Park, and The Bridge Recovery Center/Stewpot. Like so many, Eden Green was negatively impacted by the winter storm, but once operations resume, our refrigerated truck will take over this route now that we have a part-time driver in place. Thanks to those who have helped in the past with this effort: Cheryl Parker, Annelise Pedersen, Christy Singhania, and Dee Velvin. |
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Gwen’s Garden needs volunteers one Saturday a month to assist with our neighborhood garden's care. Dates vary, so please check the volunteer sign-up page for specifics.
Snap Kitchen Deliveries – if you would like to be included on the “sub” list for opportunities to transport Snap Kitchen meals, please send us an email.
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Children of FOSP Members Volunteer Too!! |
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When Shelby Stansbury was home on winter break from the University of North Carolina, she offered to volunteer in the Pantry. As the daughter of Founding members Tina and Dan Stansbury, giving back is in Shelby’s DNA. As it turned out, there was a need for a driver to pick up at Super Target three times a week and transport surplus donations to the Pantry. Shelby did not hesitate. She said that she would be happy to do it—and then did more. When asked if she would be interested in driving to Cleburne to pick up bulk lettuces and other greens – up to 500 pounds per week—again, the answer was “sure!” Not only did Shelby do the pickup and loading of donations, she also unloaded the boxes upon delivery. Talk about going the extra mile. |
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At this time, we are not collecting recycled plastic and paper bags in the Pantry. However, we still are accepting used rolling luggage pieces. These help our neighbors on foot when they arrive at the Pantry and have difficulty transporting the food they receive. |
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Expanding our General Board |
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Are you looking for a way to get more involved with Friends and SPSCC? We want to expand our General Board with more Friends. The General Board will meet casually up to four times a year in homes (or via Zoom) for coffee and Friends updates. Along with being an advocate of the Friends’ mission, Board members assist with planning and implementing faculty and staff appreciation events and support membership recruitment and retention initiatives. We also welcome the leadership of at-large members who want to learn more about Friends or get involved in our organization's development.
For more information or to join the fun, email Paula Mitchell. |
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Feel free to reach out to any board member if you are looking for more ways to get involved with FOSP:
Helen Bond Riney, Communications (email)
Felecia Burns, Prayer Committee (email)
Martha Johnston, Bingo, BBQ, & Blues (email)
Annelise Pedersen, Treasurer (email)
Christy Singhania, Secretary (email)
Tina Stansbury, Faculty/Staff Appreciation (email)
Breanna Turnley, SPSCC Liaison (email)
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