OUTREACH
WORLD VISION 30 HOUR FAMINE
For almost two decades St. George AP GOYA has been an active participant in a nationwide 30 Hour Famine to help stop world child hunger. Through the efforts of our young adults, St. George AP GOYA has raised over $40,000 to feed the hungry throughout the world. This is an event that every GOYAN truly loves. It helps them raise awareness about worldwide hunger and almsgiving as well as fasting and prayer. Here is the link to the Asbury Park Press article for 2015
What is the 30 Hour Famine?
It is a nationwide Youth movement sponsored by World Vision to stop world hunger. All participants are asked to restrain from eating food for 30 hours during which time they are asked to raise awareness and funds in order to stop world hunger. The ways to raise awareness is by learning about the crisis and being a witness to family and friends. The first goal is to be sponsored by family, relative and friends. Second goal is receive food donations for our local food bank. Third is to provide service to those in need. Great Lent is a spiritual discipline of Orthodox Christians which involves not only prayer and fasting but also almsgiving which the 30 Hour famine promotes all three of these disciplines. Helping the poor is a calling for Orthodox Christians and the season of Great Lent puts a special emphasis on charity through almsgiving. It only takes $1 a day to help feed and care for a hungry child.
What type of fasting is observed during the 30 Hour Famine?
Fasting is the act of abstaining from food. The one that we will be doing, which is the most popular and the one that is part of the 30 Hour Famine is a juice fast. The average, healthy person is able to go without food for 30 hours without any ill effects.
This event will provide an opportunity for our youth to focus their thoughts, prayers and efforts on things most important to God. It’s a way to draw near to God. It also allows our youth to feel what real hunger feels like — a hunger that is felt by many of the boys, girls, men and women who are being helped by the funds raised during the 30 Hour Famine.
The majority of our GOYANs participate in this rewarding outreach program each year. Awareness and registration begin a month before Pascha. The GOYANS have an opportunity to sign up online. More information can be found on the World Vision webpage at www.30hourfamine.org.
The fast begins 8pm on Good Friday night and ends 2am after the Resurrection service. A schedule is given to each GOYAN with their registration packets (typically a month before Pascha).
BRIDGES OUTREACH
In September 1988, Geoff and Ginger Worden made their first of many Friday midnight trips to carry bag dinners, hot soup and coffee to the homeless on the streets of NYC.
This organization started from 2 individuals in 1988 personally feeding the homeless under the Brooklyn Bridge. It has since grown into a non-for profit organization that reaches out to 1000,000 homeless in New York City, Newark, Irvington and Summit, New Jersey every week delivering brown bag meals, toiletries and school backpacks.
Holy Trinity Westfield GOYA together with St. George AP GOYA, Kimisis Holmdel and Union GOYA together donate and deliver over 300 brown bag lunches as part of a BRIDGES RUN for this agency twice a year. All the food is donated by GOYA families and the lunches and toiletries bags are assembled together as a unified GOYA on a Friday night and the senior GOYANS hand deliver the lunches to the homeless the next morning. It is a truly a moving experience for our young adults.
ADOPT A YIAYIA AND PAPOU
The project’s purpose is establishing relationships with the elderly homebound to help them to stay connected to our Church. GOYANS will contact them with questions to start conversations about their lives, giving each an opportunity to engage with a GOYAN and sharing lifetime experiences that GOYANS will treasure forever.
Questions which a psychologist reviewed ensuring that none will cause hard feelings for the elderly were prepared to enable the GOYAN to start a conversation.
GOYANS will call an elderly person on three different occasions during Lent and each conversation will be 30 to 45 minutes. GOYANS will ask the elderly if they have the ability to Facetime with them.
If an elderly person tells a GOYAN a story that the GOYAN would like to share, that GOYAN will then get permission from the elderly person to share the story with friends or at a GOYA meeting.