Current News
4th Annual Zero Waste Day
Volunteer for one hour with the Andover Recycling Committee. You will assist donors in unloading goods from their cars and putting the donated materials in one of ten trucks that belong to different charities such as Lowell Wish, Boston Building Materials Resource Center or Lazarus House.
Project Leader: Maureen at 978-475-6888 or aezsmith@verizon.net
Location: Rear parking lot of Brickstone Square on York Street.
Date & timeframe: Saturday May 3rd from 9:00 -12:00 noon
On-going Projects
Bread and Roses
is a Lawrence soup kitchen for people who are homeless or families just having a hard time making ends meet at the end of the month. Volunteers are needed to prepare and serve dinner meals. For more information about how you can help...
Contact: Sharon LaPorte, 978.688.1036
Cor Unum Meal Center
needs volunteers to serve breakfast or dinner at their Lawrence meal center.
Contact: Maureen Smith, 978.475.6888, aezsmith@verizon.net
Daybreak Shelter & Lazarus House Breakfast Teams
On Tuesday mornings from 6:00–7:30am, FCC volunteers prepare and serve breakfast at Daybreak Shelter which provides temporary shelter to adults with addiction or mental health diagnoses. On Thursday morning from 6:00–7:30, a team cooks breakfast and serves the guests at Lazarus House which is a shelter for individuals and families.
Drivers needed to bring Daybreak Shelter guests to FCC for the 8:30am Sunday Service. Pick-up at Daybreak in Lawrence at 7:45am and drop-off at 10:30am.
Contact: David Dargie, 978.996.4475, ddargie@comcast.net
Esperanza Academy School of Hope
is a tuition-free middle school for economically disadvantaged girls in the fifth through eighth grades in Lawrence. The Academy provides the students three meals a day five days a week. Throughout the school year, the Academy could use two people per meal to prepare the food, set-up and clean-up all with a small student team assisting so the girls gain skills, responsibility and receive fellowship.Tutoring opportunities are also available. To learn more visit EsperanzaAcademy.org
Contact: Stephanie Owen, 978.686.HOPE, Stephanie.Owen@esperanzaacademy.org
Foster Care
The Foster Care program is looking for compassionate adults to be tutors, teen mentors, volunteer case reviewers, foster parents, and adoptive parents. They are also in need of hotline emergency homes for when children are removed from their home and need temporary care until a more long-lasting situation is found. This commitment is usually for 1-3 days on an as needed basis. For more information...
Contact: Joan Neil, 978.687.9456, joan_neil@verizon.net and
Ildelisa Ortiz, 978.688.3073, Ildeliza.Ortiz@state.ma.us
Also... Mary Ward at the Department of Social Services,
617.748.2243, mary.ward@state.ma.us
Habitat for Humanity
Bob Neil coordinates FCC volunteers (adults only) one Saturday per month to work on new homes that are under construction in Lawrence. Tasks may include installing windows, framing and decking porches, framing interior walls, roofing, or siding. Some experience doing repairs around your own home is useful but the Habitat people can quickly teach you what you need to know.
Contact: Bob Neil, 978.621.0655, bneil@broadcom.com
House of Hope Church
in Lynn, MA, is a church plant ministering to the homeless and DYS youth. Andrea and Larry Lerman serve at House of Hope monthly, and Larry co-leads a men’s group weekly. Andrea facilitates group spiritual direction for their ministry team. Volunteers always welcome to join the Lermans in encouraging this faith community.
Project Leaders: Larry and Andrea Bliss-Lerman, 978.470.3051, andrea.b-l@comcast.net
Location: Lynn, MA
Date and timeframe: One Sunday per month
Number of volunteers: All welcome
Medical/Dental Ministry
Touched Twice Ministry tries to touch hurting, needy people first by meeting their most urgent physical and medical needs and secondly by meeting their need to connect with God in Christian fellowship.
Our local Touched Twice Ministry is a free medical clinic in Lawrence held at the different churches. Join other FCC nurses and doctors who have served at this quarterly clinic for years. The Ministry needs medical and dental professionals, Spanish translators, and compassionate patient advocates to assist patients during their time at the clinic.
Dates of upcoming Touch Twice Health Clinics:
June 7: Church of God of Prophecy, Lawrence, Pastor Juan Melo
Sept. 6: Spanish Assembly of God, Lawrence, Pastor Cecilio Perez
Dec. 6: Assembly of God Church, Haverhill, Pastor Rolando Gonzalez
Contact: Maureen Smith, 978.475.6888, aezsmith@verizon.net
Men’s Prison Ministry
This men’s ministry offers fellowship and Bible study to inmates at the Lawrence and Middleton Correctional Facilities.
Contact: George Chatson, 978.681.9896, geokim127@hotmail.com
Pals Program
This ministry is designed to assist families and caretakers who have special needs infants, children or youth. It will meet on the second Friday of each month from 6:00–8:00pm. We will entertain and care for the children while the parents have an opportunity to enjoy a few free hours. This specialized service would support our church families with special needs children, as well as be an outreach to the community to model and share God’s love in a safe environment.
Contact: Marnie Burton, marniepburton@yahoo.com, 978.475.4834
and Carolyn Huapaya, cmhuapaya@comcast.net, 978.688.8489.
Parish Partners: Nursing Home Outreach Opportunities
Parish Partners is the senior adult outreach program at Free Christian Church. The ministry consists of men, women and children who share the hope and the message of the Gospel with senior adults who are in nursing homes, assisted living facilities or senior housing. Many of these dear folks are not able to go out and enjoy fellowship, so our teams go to them and remind that they are not forgotten. Knowing the love of Christ and experiencing community is especially important for senior adults within our church family and also within the community.
Currently there are approximately 50 volunteers who partner in sharing the Gospel with nursing home residents in Andover and North Andover. Every Saturday of the month there is a group of folks from FCC who bring the joy of the Lord into area nursing homes and share in Christian fellowship through song and Bible teachings. There is opportunity for individual prayer and some of the teams are able to bring communion to the residents.
There is such a need and we can never have too many volunteers. You can go and spend one hour a month or one hour a week or one hour a day. You can go alone or with your family or with your small group. The teams participate in the services on Saturday mornings from 10:30-11:30 am. If that does not fit into your schedule, there are many other times during the week that you can go and there is always someone that will be happy to see you! For more information on how you can join this special team please...
Contact: Wendy Nevin, Senior Adult Minister, 978.475.0540,
wnevin@verizon.net
Whole Foods Team
Whole Foods Market in Andover and Free Christian Church don’t want delicious food to go wasted! Whole Foods is donating their overstock bakery goods to local homeless shelters and we are seeking FCC people to help with the delivery. We need volunteers to pick up the baked goods every day (7 days per week, especially weekends) between 7:30am and 9:00am at Whole Foods and to deliver them that same day to either Cor Unum Meal Center, Daybreak Shelter or Lazarus House in Lawrence. This is a wonderful opportunity to become involved with serving our neighbors and at a time that is convenient for you. Please consider signing up for one day a week or sharing a day with another volunteer.
Contact: Mike, mfarnola@c3boston.com, 978.470.3108
Women’s Prison Ministry
This group ministers to WIT, “Women In Transition”, a small minimum security correctional facility in Salisbury. The Alpha course is offered on Wednesdays from 1:00-3:00pm or on Saturdays from 9:00-11:00am during the school year. There are opportunities, for those who have taken the Alpha course at FCC, to serve as either a regular weekly visitor or as a substitute on an occasional basis. Training is provided and is required for either the regular or occasional visitor.
A group may also host a craft night (knitting, scrapbooking, card-making, etc.) for the women. This provides an opportunity for volunteers to socialize with the women, while helping them make a craft. Any woman at FCC who can share a craft and provide the necessary supplies for up to 24 women or who would be willing to help with such an activity should contact Roselle Heckendorn to arrange a suitable evening. Extensive training is not necessary but everyone must submit an application to the prison at least 3 weeks before their first visit. If you’re interested in learning more...
Contact: Roselle Heckendorn, 978.475.9500,
rheckendorn@freechristian.org
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