We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

Village Harvest

A Very Productive Village Harvest, May 15, 2024

Below are some of the foods and workers on Tuesday, May 14 unboxing, sorting and bagging the distribution. Thanks to Cookie and Johnny for obtaining the food from the Healthy Harvest Food Bank as well as working with the food, assisted by Elizabeth, Andrea, Lin, Dave, and Catherine and Ben.

May was an explosion in both food provided and clients receiving!  (A nice 188th birthday present for St. Peter’s, consecrated on this day in 1836.)The weather was drizzly but thankfully that didn’t affect the turnout. May featured the largest number of clients, 119 since Nov. 2020 when it was 135. (A year ago the number was 93). Elizabeth reports that “The 119 includes the people Catherine and Jan and Lin pick up for. This may have been more than usual, and we also seemed to have more people from Essex and from Port Royal itself than before.”

The pounds available in May was 1,400 the largest since Dec. 2022 at 1,468  (A year ago in May, 2023  1,143)

Year to date we have  served 487 people compared to 415 last year representing a 17.3% increase. The client total also exceeds both 2022, 447 and 2021, 465.  However, it would be under the pre-pandemic years of 2019,  593, and 2018, 501 (with one month cancelled). Still, it represents an important improvement over the last few years.

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Update on Snacks for Caroline County Public Schools

Based on information discussed at the February CERVE meeting regarding the need for snacks at the elementary schools in Caroline County, St Peter’s Vestry made a donation, along with many other churches, to raise $1268 to be spent on snacks for the three schools. Teachers at these schools have been individually providing snacks for their classrooms since many of the children cannot afford to bring a daily snack to school.  

One of the CERVE members coordinated with personnel at the three county elementary schools, getting input about what snacks would be wanted.  She then purchased juice boxes, fruit cups, apple sought and other healthy snacks and delivered snacks to the three schools.  With the donations received, the schools will receive snacks through the rest of this school year.  Needless to say, everyone is extremely grateful for this direct help for our Caroline County children. 

Village Harvest, April 2024 – “Low numbers, however they got a lot of nice stuff.”

April, 2024 brought 77 people to the Village Harvest. it was the 3rd lowest total over the year and is below March’s 90.  77 is also below the 6th-month average of 98. Our range over the 6 months has extended from 77 to 112 in December 2023.  A year ago in April, the total was 104.

Food sources were also lower at 1,242 pounds in April compared to 1,322 pounds last month. Like the client totals food was the 3rd  lowest in a year.  However, unlike with clients, April’s total was above the 12-month average. 1,242 pounds was above the 6th month average of 1,217.  A year ago in April 2023 pounds were higher at 1,365.   

The composition of food in April, 2024 was closer to other Aprils (except for April 2023) at 38% produce, 45%, and 17% meat. (Last year, April 2023, produce was significantly higher at 51% ).  Generally, grocery has been higher than produce by 10 percentage points at this time of the year

Pounds per person is a measure that tries to relate client and food trends. How much food did the typical client receive? Despite the totals being lower in both clients and pounds this month, pounds per person were at a 12-month high at 16.1.  The 6 months average is 13 as was a year ago in April, 2023.   Pounds per person was at the highest level since July 2023 at 16.75. As Elizabeth remarked “Low numbers, however they got a lot of nice stuff.”

Village Harvest, March 20, 2024

First quarter review follows:

CLIENTS    
 2024202320222021
Jan9160115116
Feb110779084
Mar90819195
     
Total291218296295
     
POUNDS    
 2024202320222021
Jan 1,110 1,137 1,081 1,147
Feb 1,014 806 1,635 1,304
Mar 1,321 970 1,480 1,891
     
Total 3,445 2,913 4,196 4,342
     
Pounds11.813.414.214.7
Per Client   

The first quarter, 2024 recovered from 2023 levels in both clients and food. 2024 clients levels are comparable to clients in 2022 and 2021 at just 300 for the quarter. 2023 significant descrease could be considered as an aberration. Food is up from 2,913 pounds to 3,445 in 2024. Overall clients are up by 33% and food 18% from first quarter 2023 to the same period in 2024.

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Village Harvest – Feb., 2024 – a positive month

We served 110 at the Feb. 21, 2024 Village Harvest. After a slowdown to 91 last month, we were back at the plateau of 110-112 from achieved fron Nov and Dec. last year. This was 10 people above the earlier period Aug to Oct. which served between 90 and 100.

Totals for the first two months show some consistency from 2021-2024. The total is between 200 and 205 except for 2023 which was substantially lower at 137. We are not sure what happened but weather was not an issue.

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Souper Bowl Sunday – Food and card donations

1. Prayer at Announcements

We collected food cans from parishioners today plus cards addressed to the recipients to provide additional connections to our Village Harvest food distribution, happening Wed Feb. 21, 3pm-5pm.

2. Results. We collected 41 cans of food and 33 cards donated plus $75 in monetary donations.

The goal was thirty cans and thirty cards for those who come to the distribution so we exceeded our goal. It was also above last year with 25 cans Thanks to all!

It was not just the donation that was important but also the symbolic bringing of the donation to the altar which we did today. This practice goes back to at least Exodus in the Old Testament when Moses encourages bringing donations forward to the Lord.

SouperBowl! Feb 11, 2024

Bring a can, or cans, of soup to church on the 11th, along with a Valentine’s Day card wishing the recipient love from St Peter’s to be included in a Village Harvest bag on Wed, February 21st. The goal—thirty cans of soup and thirty cards for those who come to the distribution. Monetary donations to the Village Harvest are always welcome. Write a check to St Peter’s with Village Harvest in the memo line if you wish to donate.

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The Souper Bowl supports the Village Harvest

The Role of Food Insecurity

Year % Food Insecurity
2017 10.2
2018 9.9
2019 9.4
2020 7.7
2021 8.1

The Souper Bowl helps to fund the Village Harvest which is not budgeted but depends on contributions. Harvest fund levels are affected by trends in food insecurity.

The trends of food insecurity have improved over the last few year as a percentage of the population except for the last year (2021) in the table.

That’s the good news we can all appreciate. However, all groups in the community have not shared in this improvement.

Food insecurity is an economic condition driven by several factors, chief among these is a lack of money. Overall, the economy has been positive in these years accounting for downward trend percentage of food insecurity. There is an underlying second issue. Food insecurity is affected by underlying economic and social disadvantages reflecting racial differences.

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Village Harvest, Jan.17, 2024

It was a snow day Jan. 16 so we benefited by a full crew of help, including three teenagers to help prepare. We were well prepared for the harvest on Jan. 17.

Food available in pounds

For the first month of 2024, we had meat (chicken breasts) vegetables (carrots, rice, corn, cabbage,lettuce, soup) fruit (peaches), and Food Lion packages for distribution. 52% was grocery, 28% produce and 20% meat. A Year ago in Jan., 2023 76% was grocery and 24% meat, less variety then.

Despite the variety, supplies were tight. The buyers noted that stock was low at the Healthy Harvest Food Bank.

1,110 pounds were available for distribution in Jan, 2024. This was the lowest supply since June, 2023 which had 949 pounds. A year ago in Jan, 2023, 1,137 pounds were distributed, close to the current total.

Comparable numbers showed 1,081 pounds in Jan, 2022, 1147 in Jan, 2021 and only 1,020 for 2020. Clearly, the 2024 number was actually better than most years.

In the chart below, the red bars display foods available in the last 6 months of 2023 and 2024. Blue is a year earlier. Beginning in Oct, 2023, the number of pounds available per month slipped behind that of the month a year earlier.

Clients served by the Harvest.

Trends were more positive on the client side in January but have fluctuated over the last several years.

We served 91 in Jan. 2024, the lowest total since October with 99. A year ago in Jan, 2023 the number was only 60. This was an anomoly. In Jan 2022 there was almost double the clients at 115. Jan, 2021 was similar 116 but Jan, 2020 was only 81.

Monthly totals provide a recent trend in those fed by the harvest.

Looking at the last six months of clients fed at the harvest show an improving trend monthly in the current year compared to a year ago. Client totals were over 99 or better for the last 3 months of 2023 with an average of 107. A year earlier maximum was 90 for the last 3 months of 2022 with an average of 86.

Preparation

We have up to four teams that make the Harvest a reality though there is a blending between groups. One team goes to Montross to purchase food from the Healthy Harvest Food Bank. This happens on the Monday or Tuesday before Wed. distribution. We have a team that then unloads the food from the truck to our Parish House.

We have another team that will organize the items and fill the bags. The frozen items, such as chickens may get their own separate bags. A final team helps with the distribution on Wed.

Tues Jan 16 the day of preparation was a snow day and so we had the services of several teenagers to help:

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2023 Highlights at St. Peter’s

This is a topical summary. We have another page that is a chronological listing of 2023 events with table of contents with links to the events.

The highlights can be grouped as follows:

A. New ministry
God’s Garden
Chancellors Village
Advent Worskhop

B. New expressions in ministry
Stewardship tree
Lent -Stations of the Cross in the graveyard and more services

C. Expanded and revised ministries
Mission trip to Jamaica
Anniversary Village Harvest Food Ministry
Sacred Ground revised
ECM (Episcopal Church Men) end of year expanded donations and use of an art auction.
Community – Prayer service, Outside Christmas pageant, Work with community organizations
Key parishioner volunteering
ECW (Episcopal Church Women) projects

D. Music provided new delights
Easter, the summer and Christmas
Blue grass concert

E. Losses connected with two historic trees and two heating systems.

1. New ministry – God’s Garden

A new ministry debuted Sept 17, 2023. God’s Garden for 5 to 9 year olds began with 4 children and two experienced teachers, Elizabeth Heimbach, the originator of the class and Jan Saylor.

One of the first activities was to “God’s Garden” which explored what it meant to be a saint, today (Oct. 1, 2023) for St. Francis Day on Oct. 4. As an example they told the story of St. Francis taming the Wolf of Gubbio. Then, they made Pet blessings with treats to give out in church to make pets happy on St. Francis Day, Oct. 4.

2. Expanded ministry in Jamaica

Even before the mission began, we hosted Annette Steele, principal of Victoria Primary School who enjoyed a full day at St. Peter’s on Sun, Aug. 13. She addressed the church at announcements about our joint mission to help the students in her elementary school get ready for school in Sept, both in 2021 and 2023. She explained how much it meant to the students and her community.

After the service, she enjoyed St. Peter’s hospitality at a luncheon and met our parishioners and guests.

The group of 3 on the mission team distributed our donations in Jamaica on Aug. 26

We not only brought the usual school supplies but added 6 tablets. Separately, 7 used computers were donated to a school that had never had a computer.  

There were different ways of distributing the items.  There were contests for tablets and food baskets won by answering questions. Certificates given out based on merit overall and in areas like math. A number of students won $1,000 Jamaican dollars for math competency. Teachers were not forgotten – 2 footballs were given out to the coach!

3. Village Harvest ended its 9th year and began its 10th year in August, 2023 and ended the year serving the most people since 2019.

For the year, we recovered from a slow 1st quarter, 2023 and ended the year serving 1,063 people compared to 1,051 in 2022. It was the best yearly total since 2019.

Unfortunately, the same trend overall wasn’t present with food. Food increased from 2021 to 2022 (14,303 to 15,302 pounds) but dipped to 13,859 pounds in 2023. The first quarter was the problem. We had 2,913 pounds in that quarter compared over 4,000 for 2022 and 2021.

As a result, pounds provided per individual dropped from 14.56 in 2022 to 13.04. In 2021, it was in the same range at 14.32. Overall, pounds per individual are substantially higher since 2019 than in earlier periods.

The 2023 collection on Giving Tuesday, Nov 28 of $1,205 was the highest Giving Tuesday figure since 2019 and provides over 5 months of support for purchasing food for 2024

4. Sacred Ground revised their scholarship program

Representatives from Sacred Ground met with Jessica Thompson, Executive Director of the Germanna Educational Foundation, for lunch at Castiglias in Fredericksburg on Oct. 10, 2023.  The goal was to determine how we could move forward with a new focus on our scholarships for students.

Sacred Ground voted unanimously by email in early December to fund the recommendation forwarded by Jessica Thompson at Germanna for scholarships for students entering the trades. Each student is “in financial need and from underserved populations.” The $2,700 would be split equally to pay for their training.

Each student owes approximately $1,500 for the classes to complete the training. We will pay for the additional expense for each student through additional scholarship funds

They also toured Patawomeck Village in November. The goal of the visit was to understand their history and culture as well as our role

Earlier, the Sacred Ground group had the pleasure of meeting with Alanna Gray (beside Catherine), and her mother and grandmother (opposite Alanna) at Cuppa Cheer in February

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The Village Harvest rallies, Dec. 20 2023

We had 112 people to receive food, the largest monthly number in almost two years (since Jan. 2022 with 115). It was reported, there were more shoppers from Port Royal itself and fewer from King George. We also serve Esssex and Westmoreland counties.

We had 1,343 pounds which was just under the largest delivery of the year (April, 2023, 1,365 pounds). Included were 398 pounds of meat, including 35 chickens, one to a family for Christmas which is 33% of the harvest (see photo). The rest of the harvest is grocery 51% and produce 17%. There are a number of apple-related products from the fruit to apple sauce.

The photo shows the items unloaded from the truck – apples, tomatoes, and boxed items from Food Lion which includes tomato sauce, corn, spaghetti and macaroni. Separately we have frozen green beans.

For the year, we recovered from a slow 1st quarter, 2023 and ended the year serving 1,063 people compared to 1,051 in 2022. It was the best yearly total since 2019.

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