Page 28 - Presbyterian Connection

Connection
MISSION & OUTREACH
Ready, Steady, Stop!
28
PRESBYTERIAN
SUMMER 2021
presbyterian.ca
By David Banfield, chair of the Steering Committee for Switched on Seniors, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Markham, Ont.
Ready, steady, stop! This is prob- ably not the opening line that you would expect; however, it was a situation that was recently experi- enced by a team of individuals from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Markham, Ont.
The story starts back in 2019. At St. Andrew’s monthly community lunches, there were discussions with seniors, both members of the con- gregation and residents of the com- munity, about how they might create a program that would reach out to seniors who were struggling to keep up with the demands of technology, and how to couple the outreach with some fellowship opportunities. Many accounts that the group gathered in- dicated that virtually everybody they had spoken with had a cell phone,
but only about 10% of those inter- viewed knew what the phone could do for them other than make or re- ceive a call. Further research showed that this limited knowledge also ex- tended to tablets, Chromebooks, etc.
The group developed a program that provided “tech training” tailored to seniors, along with fellowship. The group behind the idea were them- selves all seniors and, as it turned out, also had limited tech knowledge, so it was decided that in order to do the job well, an expert would have to be engaged to share their knowledge and experience.
As the planning evolved, it became clear that this all could not be accom- plished on a volunteer basis. This led to the submission of a federal grant application to the New Horizons for Seniors Program, and much to the surprise and joy of the group, a grant was awarded to start up the program in early 2020.
St. Andrew’s also sponsored the
program by providing space and fa- cilities for weekly meetings at no cost to the group. The group was now taking on a more formal framework. They adopted the name, “Switched on Seniors,” moved into the recruit- ment phase for a program coordi- nator and purchased equipment. The Steering Committee remained a volunteer group, since part of the financing arrangement required the program to be seniors providing ser- vices to seniors.
The program was ready, steady and set to launch on Thursday, April 30, 2020; then along came COVID-19 and everything stopped in its tracks. The Committee took an optimistic view of the situation and thought that the out- break would last no more than a few weeks (they got that one wrong!) and so the starting date was delayed again and again. When it became apparent that the pandemic was not ending anytime soon, the group set about re- engineering the program into a vir tual
education opportunity.
Teaching people how to use a
tablet or smartphone in-person is straightforward: you can point to the right buttons to press and make sure that everyone is doing the same. Try- ing to do that via Zoom takes an ex- tra degree of expertise. Fortunately, the newly hired program coordina- tor (who’s also a senior) worked through the vagaries of the situation and succeeded in launching the pro- gram online, albeit to a slightly differ- ent audience than had been originally intended.
The program is now up and run- ning. Although the in-person inter- action and all-important tea and biscuits are missing, the program is reaching out to a growing group of seniors who are fast becoming super Zoom users, mastering other tech- nologies along the way. The program is open to all seniors and runs at no cost for people who attend.
Re-engineering the program to be
available virtually necessitated the creation of a website (switchedon- seniors.com) that would be easy to navigate and provide a library of simple video tutorials, along with up-to-date news about weekly meet- ings. The weekly meetings feature a brief presentation by a local speaker, games, information and the all-im- portant “tech corner.”
Switched on Seniors is still very much in its infancy, but the group is growing and looking forward to the time when they can report that it is ready, steady and a go; and when we can open the doors at St. Andrew’s to seniors who can come and benefit from learning about technology while enjoying fellowship. In the meantime, this outreach ministry “zooms” on.
online markets met important needs in our community, and that is very gratifying for all who participated. The goal to continue the tradition of our Olde Tyme Christmas Bazaar, and enjoy the fellowship of work- ing together, has definitely been met once again.
Virtual Markets in Markham
By Roseanne Dumitru, Christmas Bazaar Convener, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Markham, Ont.
The traditional Olde Tyme Christmas Bazaar at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Markham, Ont., was cer- tainly different this past year! Our an- nual bazaar is normally hosted on the first Saturday in November. It is al- ways an important outreach activity, allowing us to welcome many folks into our church. It is an opportunity to make new friends in the com- munity, while raising funds for our ministry and missions. It also allows us to enjoy the fellowship of working together.
Due to COVID-19, the outlook for holding our 2020 bazaar was bleak. With restrictions all around us, San- ta, and all his convener elves, were starting to re-imagine how our ba- zaar could take place. The consen- sus was that we should try to pre- serve the tradition of our Christmas bazaar. The goals were too important to just do nothing!
The decision was made to replace our traditional one-day indoor bazaar with a series of virtual bazaars. It seemed like a fine idea. Maintaining our connections to the community, especially during the pandemic, was particularly important.
Normally, hosting the Christmas
bazaar would involve about 75 mem- bers of our church, and their friends. That was not going to be possible, but everyone wanted to participate in accordance with their comfort and COVID-19 protocols.
Thus, the St. Andrew’s Virtual Mar- kets were born. Knowing we couldn’t provide all the items normally as- sociated with our traditional bazaar, the team of conveners got together to prepare a menu of comfort foods. Jean Port contributed a catalogue of crafts. The Rev. Peter Ma contributed his computer expertise and unwaver- ing support.
As a fundraising activity for our ministry and missions, there was no expectation of maintaining the suc- cesses of past Christmas bazaars. Were we ever wrong!
The journey commenced with the launch of the Virtual Thanksgiving Market. The menu and catalogues were sent to the congregation . Eve- ryone was encouraged to spread the news through social media. Or- ders were taken and provision for payment by e-transfer was made. Pickup in the church parking lot was staggered to avoid large gatherings, and social distancing was carefully observed.
The first Virtual Thanksgiving Market was met with a tremendous response! The menu featured St.
Andrew’s famous meat pies and a variety of fruit pies. It also included soups and cookies. This first new initiative was certainly a learning ex- perience and a success.
After the first market, we hosted a Virtual Silent Auction, and then a Virtual Christmas Market. For the Christmas Market menu of comfort foods: fruit pies, tourtière, baked goods, jams and jellies. Thank you to our expert chefs! A catalogue of Christmas crafts and delights was also developed.
We were also able to partner with Evangelism and Outreach to assist in fundraising on behalf of Evangel Hall Mission, in order to provide winter clothing to people in downtown To- ronto.
Not long after Christmas, we started planning a Virtual Valentine’s Market with a new menu and a silent auction.
Overall, our bizarre-Bazaar ended up having three virtual markets and two silent auctions. We were tired, but overjoyed to not only carry on the traditions of our annual Christ- mas bazaar through COVID-19, but also to exceed all reasonable expec- tations, beyond imagination!
The journey was spectacular, and the results phenomenal! Through Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day, the support from the Board of Manag-
ers, Session and church members, along with the added support of their friends and neighbours, was outstanding. The true success can be measured by some amazing sta- tistics. Our mini-bazaars received 458 orders, for 1,561 meat pies, 576 chicken pies, 453 other comfort foods, 156 fruit pies, 297 soups and about 4,000 cookies. The total num- ber of food items reached almost 7,100. In addition, there were 42 Christmas baskets, numerous Covid masks, as well as crafts and many other unique Christmas delights in various quantities.
The remarkable number of pur- chases and exceedingly generous donations raised over $24,000, which was donated to organizations like Presbyterian World Service & De- velopment, local missions and chari- ties, such as Evangel Hall Mission, the Markham Food Bank, the Mosaic Interfaith Out of the Cold program, Kids 360 and the Markham Stouffville COVID-19 Relief Fund. In the words of Robert Flatt: “The giving of gifts is not something man [sic] invented. God started the giving spree when He gave a gift beyond words, the un- speakable gift of his Son.”
Members of the community have acknowledged our initiative and ap- preciated our efforts in reaching out to them. We believe these innovative