Helping the hungry

COEUR d'ALENE - The Bible says to feed the hungry, so that's what Coeur d'Alene's St. Luke's Episcopal Church did.

St. Luke's, along with seven other Episcopal churches, raised more than $90,000 through the new "Organizing for Mission" program in March and April, the season of Lent.

"The parish teams went above and beyond, raising 125 percent of their original dollar goal," said Tracey Waring, Organizing for Mission's spokeswoman. "They discovered that they had skills that they had never been able to use before."

Father Pat Bell of St. Luke's Episcopal Church was excited about the amount of money they raised.

"We are extremely thrilled, we raised far beyond than we could imagine," Bell said. "This was just a very gratifying experience."

Fifty percent of the proceeds will be sent to El Hogar in Tagucigalpa, Honduras, which feeds and shelters young homeless boys in Honduras. The remainder will go to a local hunger relief initiative of each parish's choice in North Idaho and eastern Washington.

The money for local initiatives will benefit a wide variety of nonprofits and ministries who provide food and meals. The Tri-Cities Food Bank in Richland, Wash., Mending Wings in Zillah, Wash., and the Church of the Nativity's own Saturday Dinner meal program in Lewiston, are a few of the programs that will receive some of the $45,000.

Organizing for Mission is the newest mission initiative of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane.

The initiative focuses on promoting social good through the development of leadership skills for everyday people of faith, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane's press release.

"One of the best practices out there is to engage the laity," Waring said.

The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane will present a check for $45,000 to Rev. Matthew Engleby, executive director of El Hogar in Honduras, at the Diocesan Convention in Yakima, Wash., on Oct. 15.

Bell said they plan to do another fundraiser for a good cause next year.

"It was so successful, we are thinking about investing more time next year and do more locally," Bell said.

The Episcopal Diocese of Spokane has 41 congregations in North Idaho and eastern Washington.

Info: www.spokanediocese.org/ministries/organizing-for-mission-ofm