At First Church we understand that we truly are the body of Christ, and our outreach missions reflect our belief in showing kindness and compassion to all of God’s creation. There are countless ways to get involved in the outreach work of First Church — whether you want to serve hot meals to your neighbors or build houses for those who desperately need them, your hands are needed here! First Church Outreach is involved in helping people who struggle with food insecurity and homelessness, and we are particularly involved in working for equity and social justice.
Outreach Team
Fern Street Backpack Program
First Church Outreach Team is partnering with the Fern Street Backpack Program to support their mission of providing weekend nourishment to West Hartford Public School Students in need. More than one in four WHPS students experience food insecurity. Fern Street Backpack Program offers food and household essentials to students and their families that help bridge the gap between lunch on Friday and breakfast on Monday.
Fern Street Backpack program was founded in 2014 and is based out of the Universalist Church of West Hartford on Fern Street. The volunteer-led team packs nearly 200 brown grocery bags every week throughout the school year, and delivers them to 15 school and library sites across West Hartford. The program is 100% volunteer-run, receives no public funding, and relies on partnerships with Connecticut Foodshare, Midwest Food Bank, and community donations to continue its work serving the children of West Hartford.
We are asking the First Church community to help support the Fern Street Backpack program with donations of wish list items:
- Peanut butter/sun butter, 15 oz.
- Pasta sauce, 24 oz. or smaller (no beef/pork, non spicy)
- Canned vegetables and beans, 15oz.
- Dried pasta, 16 oz.
- Dried beans, up to 2 lbs.
- Canned tuna or chicken, 5oz. to 7oz.
- Canned soup (no beef or pork)
- Brown grocery bags with handles (Big Y, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Whole Foods, etc.)
There are additional opportunities to support their programs by volunteering at the Unitarian Church for the backpack program, mobile food truck program and the food pantry program.
Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance (GHIAA)
If you have questions about this, or if you want to participate in either or both parts of this new initiative, please email Linda Bronstein (lindadiane275@gmail.com) or Terry Schmitt (terryschmittwh@gmail.com). Thank you!
Upcoming GHIAA Workshops on Combating Racial and Religious Hate
We are all invited to register for any or all of these free workshops. Each one is limited to 20 participants, so don’t delay.
Combating Anti-Semitism: Activating Allies training with Project Shema (see brochure HERE), Thurs., July 10, 2025, 12:00-4:00pm (in person, at Jewish Federation, 333 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford). Explore Anti-Semitism, including how it intersects with and fuels other forms of bigotry, notably white supremacy, and how anti-Jewish conspiracy theories erode democratic, pluralistic societies. For additional information and to register, click HERE.
Combating Anti-Muslim Bigotry training with Chaplain Aida Mansoor of Muslim Coalition of CT, Wed., Aug. 13, 2025, 12:30-3:00pm (in person, at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, 55 Sherman St., Hartford). Learn about the various ways anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamophobia present themselves, and what we can do as a community to address them. For additional information and to register, click HERE.
Combating Racism: (Up)Rooting Racial (In)Justice training with consultants Shae Washington and Jason Fredlund, Thursdays, Oct. 23 & 30, Nov. 6 & 13, 6:30-9:00pm (mostly via Zoom). Learn and practice skills to uproot racial injustice and root ourselves more deeply in a lifelong commitment to racial justice and collective liberation. For additional information and to register, click HERE.
GHIAA joins movement to protect CT’s immigrants
In response to the federal government’s increased efforts to deport immigrants – often without any due process protections – GHIAA is joining CT immigrant advocates in efforts to strengthen CT’s 2019 Trust Act, and to raise awareness of the constitutional rights that all persons here have. GHIAA participated in a rally and press conference, and then a public hearing about HB-7212, which would strengthen the existing Trust Act. The bill was voted favorably out of committee, and is now awaiting a vote in the full House of Representatives.
ICE has already begun to increase enforcement activity in CT, causing many immigrant families to fear going to work, going to school, obtaining health care, or participating in their faith communities. It is important for every person or organization who may have contact with ICE to know that they have the right to (a) remain silent when questioned, (b) have an attorney present during any questioning, and (c) be free of unreasonable search and seizure.
What would we do in the unlikely event that ICE agents came to our door and asked to search First Church?
GHIAA has urged each of its member congregations to have plans in place, just in case. The First Church Coordinating Team adopted a policy statement at its April meeting which lays the groundwork for such plans. If you’d like to read a copy of that statement, you can pick one up at the church office or call the office and have one mailed to you. More specific instructions will soon be provided to church staff, ushers, etc. Our policy is to comply with any lawful request for access to our premises or our records, but to verify the lawfulness of any such request before complying. In this way, we can make sure that our rights — and the rights of any visitors — to free exercise of religion and to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure are respected.
Let’s Make Lunches!
Every month as part of our Outreach mission, we make 80 sandwiches and fill lunch bags for folks in the Asylum Hill neighborhood with “very low food security.”
•After Sunday worship in the Auditorium
•Half-hour activity for all ages
•Lunch bag contents includes: sandwich, chips, apple, and homemade cookies
Upcoming 2025 dates: July 27, and Aug 24. Questions: Contact Outreach member Dottie Stone, dottie@stone-stonect.com, 203-856-7403
Thank You Harvest Packers!
The Outreach Team hosted a Harvest Pack event Saturday March 8. We successfully packed 10,626 meals to be shipped to Kentucky where floods have severely impacted the region. We want to thank the many volunteers who supported this fun team event. We had helpers as young as age 3 up to age 93! We are grateful for everyone’s time and efforts to make this such a successful event!
Thank you!
Carol
FCAYC February Love Collection
Jyreek from South Park Inn accepting our Love collection donation. Thank you to all the church members and FCAYC families that donated during the month of February.
Judy, Bob, Jeanne and Carol all smiles at the March 2024 Loaves and Fishes prep. Yes Bob has a couple of black eyes; they look worse than they are; he checked out fine, and he didn’t let that stop him from helping on this day.
Hot Meals in Hartford
Loaves and Fishes, a local soup kitchen, provides warm meals and a safe place to eat for Hartford residents. Once a month, on the 4th Tuesday at 10 a.m., First Church volunteers work with Loaves and Fishes staff to serve a hot meal at Immanual Congregational Church. First Church members and friends also regularly donate grocery items for Loaves and Fishes’ “meals-to-go” program.
Covenant to Care
We support this partner by asking church members and friends to fill Easter baskets in the spring, fill backpacks in the fall, and Thanksgiving baskets for the holidays.
Communications Team. The Communications team is a branch of the Outreach Ministry, and is charged with spotlighting what goes on here at First Church. We employ many avenues to communicate and market our mission and events to the community and to our membership. In addition to digital messaging we design banners, signs, flyers, newspaper ads and good old word of mouth!
As the world of social media and publicity evolves, we do our best to evolve with it! Church members who have an interest in marketing are invited to check out the Communications Team!