The women’s ministry at CCC is hard at work ramping up their commitment to A. Quinn Jones School by providing unique fellowship opportunities for women in the church. This Sunday, all women are warmly welcomed to attend a cooking fellowship at the church from 3 to 5pm. The group will provide a meal for the Foundations class participants, as well as preparing part of the meal that will be delivered to the A. Quinn Jones student advisory committee meeting this Monday.

Read on below for more information on the partnership with A. Quinn Jones, how was it was established, and for details on this opportunity to serve.

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Earlier this year, we sent a letter to all those who gave financially last year. In it, we shared some of our encouragements from 2012. We also indicated that there are countless activities by various ministries in our church that are hard at work making an impact in people’s lives. This is our first “Recap 2012” installment, filling us in on the excellent partnership our women’s ministry has established with a local school. This recap comes from Paige French. (Note: If you have a story to help share, please email Chris.)

Recap 2012: A Quinn Jones

In Spring 2012, CCC’s morning women’s bible study went through an eight week study called Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything, and we were challenged to serve our community better. We looked at how the gospel can change our community and influence how Christians live in the world. Acting justly and loving mercifully, we are to be engaged with our community. Who is our community? On the basis of Jesus’ teaching, we are to love in word and deed anyone we find in need.

The group prayerfully considered what this looks like for our Tuesday morning ladies and A. Quinn Jones happened! AQJ is a Title I, county-wide school that serves a population of children (K – 12th  grade) in Alachua County who have behavioral and emotional needs. A member who lives near AQJ stopped in and asked if there were any needs at the school that our group might help with. From the first interactions with AQJ, our relationship was ignited by the Holy Spirit and fueled by the teachings of Jesus!

The teachers and staff at AQJ are a group of dedicated and passionate people who have incredibly difficult jobs. They work as a team to provide an environment where the child can be successful. The goal of AQJ is to provide the child with intense therapy while at school in hopes of returning to their zoned school or graduating.

Teachers and staff rarely receive encouragement for their work as there are not many parents involved in the school. Our Bible study decided to hold an appreciation lunch for the teachers at the end of the 2011-2012 school year. The appreciation lunch was wonderful for CCC members and AQJ teachers/staff alike. When you go to AQJ and meet the people who work there, the love and concern for helping these kids is evident. However, the overwhelming need of the children and their families is apparent as well. Because of these needs, several of those involved in the appreciation lunch felt called to make a longer term to commitment and so our relationship with AQJ continues.

The staff at AQJ are amazing people. They have helped us identify some specific NEEDS:

1. Individual child tutoring. There is a staffed volunteer coordinator at the school.
2. Continued support for supper during the SAC meetings. These meetings take place the first Monday of every month. We have seen the number of families triple since our  involvement.
3. Food donations for the backpack program where over long weekends many of these kids go hungry. The school receives assistance from Jesse Schmidt, of the Gator Back Pack Club. The club owns the backpacks and assist with filling them.  Approximately  one-third of the school population is served by the club. The guidance counselor suspects that many more could be served but they don’t have enough donations to fill the current 40 backpacks that they have assigned to children. Another option is to assist the school with locating funding for feeding the children.
4. Providing transitional skills or vocational skills after a student graduates.  These young adults need short or long term mentoring to help them navigate the job market and achieve financial stability and independence.
5. Attending school wide functions as some parents are not able to attend, as in the case of a foster child. There is a Family Field Day the last day prior to Spring Break.

INVOLVEMENT to date:

1. June 5, 2012 Teacher Appreciation Dinner (65 in attendance)
2. October 1, 2012 provided dinner for the SAC (student advisory committee) meeting
3. November 5, 2012 provided dinner for the SAC meeting
4. November 13, 2012 Collected donations for Thanksgiving weekend backpacks
5. December 18, 2012 attended the holiday presentation and provided a reception

Potential upcoming DATES, and Opportunities to Help:

1. March 2013 – We will collect donations for Spring Break Week backpacks. The donation box is in the foyer of the church, along with a list of needed items.
2. March 3, 2013 – “More Than Food” – 3-5PM at CCCAll women are invited to serve within the A.Quinn Jones outreach ministry. We will be cooking and serving both our church (meals for leadership training/outreach) and A.Quinn Jones SAC Meeting (approximately 100 people). Please join us in preparing food for our church and for the SAC meeting the following day.
3. March 4th – SAC Meeting – 4-9:00PMPlease join us part of the time or the whole time! From 4-6:00PM we will be at the church to bake, pack, and transfer meal to A.Quinn Jones. From 6-9:00PM, we will deliver, set up, eat, meet and clean up at A.Quinn Jones. To get connected, email Paige!
4. TBD, Teacher Appreciation Dinner. To get involved with upcoming events, please contact Paige French at pbemfrench AT gmail.com.