To increase awareness and mark its new name, Alongside Hope has a number of new resources available for free to parishes. Colourful folders have been created, containing leaflets explaining the various areas in which Alongside Hope works, such as Creation Care, Health and Healing, and Humanitarian Response. These are wonderful to have displayed on your welcome table throughout the year or to use when you designate an Alongside Hope Sunday, which we certainly hope you will do sometime in 2025. To make that day even more successful, there are also letter-size posters, bulletin covers, placemats, bookmarks, and envelopes—in other words, everything you need to highlight the amazing work of Alongside Hope! The number of free resources available to each parish annually is quite generous, but if you need more, they are available for a nominal fee. Find them on the website: https://alongsidehope.org. Under Get Involved, just click the yellow Resources box. The green box, Worship and Devotional, has liturgies for a special Alongside Hope service of Holy Eucharist or Service of the Word that even includes a sample sermon. All you need to do is schedule your Alongside Hope Sunday. It could centre on the worship service itself, or you might consider a special meal or other event to raise the profile of Alongside Hope in your parish.
Aside from special Alongside Hope Sundays, there are other ways to help. Some Confirmation classes decide to designate the loose collection at their Confirmation service for Alongside Hope. Other ideas include donating the proceeds from one stall at the parish Spring Sale or Fall Fair to Alongside Hope, or hosting a concert in support of our work.
As the Alongside Hope tagline says, our name has changed; our work remains the same (and one of the new leaflets explains how we chose the new name). With USAID’s recent exit from the Aid and Development sector, the work of other agencies, like Alongside Hope, has become that much more challenging as we try to help fill the gap left by such a wealthy partner. In last month’s column, you read about the new Resilience Fund which seeks to do just that. A very generous and anonymous donor has recently offered to match donations made to the new fund until June 30th, up to $250,000. That’s a wonderful incentive to donate now rather than later. And, as always, donations to Alongside Hope’s equity in the Canada Foodgrains Bank are always matched 4:1 by the Government of Canada. It is always a win when donations are doubled or more. For those who like to see exactly what their donation will be used for, the ever-popular World of Gifts is open year-round for your convenience.
Obviously, the work of development and aid requires financial resources—and lots of them—but Alongside Hope also relies on your prayers and your participation. While each of our three dioceses has a Diocesan Alongside Hope Representative, they need parish reps to help promote the work and raise awareness at the local level. If you would like to know more about this opportunity to be part of the Alongside Hope team, please contact Doreen Klassen in the Western Diocese, Debra Gill in Central, Deborah Pantin in Eastern NL, or speak to your rector. The larger our team is, the greater impact we can make. You can make a difference!
