Charity Report – 2021

2021 was a blessed year for SGOCI charity. As a result of your generosity, our Parish was able to make a difference in the lives of those in need both within our local community as well as in India. We would like to thank both Fr. Thomas Mathai and Fr. Teji Abraham for their spiritual guidance and support. We also want to thank our Parish family for their support with their time and money. In total our Parish disbursed over $40,000 in donations. Below are the highlights of 2021.

Women’s Shelter Monthly Dinner Donors & Supplies Donation

Despite the pandemic, our parish volunteers continued to cook and drop off dinner for women and children at the shelter in San Leandro. This shelter provides temporary housing for 30 women and children fleeing domestic abuse situations. They depend on volunteers like us for their daily meals and we are thankful that we are able to help for the 7th consecutive year.
In addition to the monthly dinners, in December we provided much needed clothing, personal hygiene supplies, and snacks to the residents.

Farm Worker Families

The Center for Farmworker Families is a non-profit organization which is based in Watsonville. The plight of many of these farm workers is dire, often families go hungry and struggle with basic needs of food and clothing. Our Parish supported these farmers on a monthly basis by providing rice, dry beans, masa flour and cooking oil (items which they are often unable to afford but essential to their cuisine). In total we donated 12,000 lbs of food. During December, we also donated blankets and Christmas toys for the children.

Christmas Meal Donation – Homeless Encampments (San Jose)

Our Parish sponsored a meal for 200 homeless individuals in San Jose for the third year. We worked with the Sleeping Bags for the Homeless organization. The individually packaged meals were distributed during Christmas.

Grocery Help for Families in Need

Fremont Human Services department requested grocery assistance for families facing food insecurity. We purchased $500 worth of grocery gift cards, which the center distributed as needed.
We partnered with San Lorenzo Unified School District to provide $500 worth of Safeway gift cards to help families in need of food during the holidays. These families were identified by the school district through the The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Program.

School Snack Program

Hesperian Elementary is a Title 1 school in San Lorenzo. Many students come from low-income families. The staff often purchases snacks for students who are hungry. We resumed this program after having to pause it in 2020 due to the Pandemic. In December, we donated individually packaged healthy snacks to be handed out as needed.

St. Gregoriose Scholarship Awards – Arroyo High School & San Lorenzo High School

We provided scholarship awards to 5 students at Arroyo High School as usual. This year we extended this program to 3 deserving students at San Lorenzo High School as well. Students were chosen based on financial need, academic performance, and their community service. All recipients performed strongly in their classes, were active in school athletics and groups, and provided many hours of community work. We gave each recipient $1,000 to help with their college expenses. This is the 4th year SGOCI is able to award scholarships to our neighboring students.

Blanket & Sleeping Bag Donations

We purchased 240 blankets and distributed to the unhoused and those in need through the following organizations:

  • Building Futures – San Leandro
  • Davis Street Foundation – San Leandro
  • Women and Children’s Shelter – San Leandro
  • Abode Services – Fremont
  • Sleeping Bags for the Homeless – San Jose
  • Hand That Care – San Jose

    • Additionally, we donated 30 sleeping bags and warm clothing supplies to the City of Fremont, Human Services department. These were distributed to the unhoused in the Fremont area.

    Homeless Encampments

    Sleeping Bags for the Homeless and Hands that Care are two organizations that serve the unhoused in San Jose. Throughout this year, we were able to support them by donating essential food items, sleeping bags, and other supplies.
    During the recent rains we learned that the homeless encampments in Santa Cruz were flooded and residents lost the very little belongings they had. We were able to donate warm clothes and blankets to them.

    Angel Tree

    This is a program of Prison Fellowship, which provides Christmas gifts and the Gospel to children on behalf of their incarcerated parents. We facilitated donating gifts to 29 children from our parishioners this year.

    Financial assistance for Individuals and Families

    Our parish contributed a total of $8,000 to 16 families and individuals who were suffering from physical infirmities, financial difficulties or unforeseen circumstances. These families were from the Bay Area, other parts of the US and India.

    Contributions Overseas

    Our Parish donated to the following organizations in India:

  • Mundakayam – Koottickal Flood Relief Beneficiaries – The heavy rains and landslides in October 2021 caused severe destruction. From the Mundakayam Paingana region, 18 parishioners of St.Thomas Orthodox Church and Koottickal Mount Thabore St. Mary’s Orthodox Church lost their homes. Our parish was able to provide some financial support to help these 18 families rebuild their homes.
  • Prerana School – (a non profit organization that serves the needy and suffering near the villages around the seminary in Nagpur). In particular they provide schooling and help to the many special needs children in the area.
  • Mar Baselius Gregorios Mercy Home – Mercy Home takes care of over 60 elderly residents from diverse backgrounds. Many have mental health issues or are abandoned by their family.
  • St. George Balikagram, Pune -This organization helps and takes care of female children of families suffering from leprosy.
  • Malankara Orthodox Church Mission Society (Dayabhavan) – This is a service institution of the Malankara Orthodox Church Mission Board and Mission Society involved in rural community services for the underprivileged and the sick. They are solely dependent on donations from well-wishers and supporters for operations.
  • St George Charitable Dialysis Center (Puthuppady) – This is a unit under Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Medical Mission. Dialysis treatment is provided free of charge to the vast majority of patients.

    • A huge thank you to our SGOCI families who made a difference in the lives of those who are in need and suffering.

    Some pics from 2021 Charity initiatives: