St. Gabriel Community Outreach
St. Gabriel Community Outreach is the charitable arm of St. Gabriel the Archangel Episcopal Church.
The mission of the St. Gabriel Outreach Committee is to live out our commitment to Christ by answering the call to serve our neighbors in His name.
We provide opportunities and experiences to:
-GIVE with donations and service projects to support our neighbors;
-LEARN and TEACH by providing our building for classes and education for adults and children;
-CONNECT by offering our building and grounds to our neighbors as an inclusive place to have discussion, garden, play games, share meals, craft and create, and do other activities designed to form relationships.
Community Garden
For ten years St. Gabriel has offered individual planting plots in our lower field to our neighbors to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers for those who may not have room in their own yards, or have a yard at all. Besides the plot, the church supplies compost, water, and other supplies for a small fee, and the gardeners provide the sweat. The gardeners donate over 10% of their produce to food pantries. We have been blessed with consistent assistance from the Boy Scouts working towards earning Eagle Badges to improve the infrastructure of the garden. If you would like to rent a plot, please contact our church office at 503-645-0744 or email us.
“Clothes For Kids” Beaverton School District Free Store
We support the Beaverton School District’s “Clothes for Kids” free store which provides new and used clothing for needy families. Donations are always accepted in a dark brown resin storage chest outside our front entry doors or inside the building to the right of the entrance in the wooden storage bin. Clothes should be clean and gently worn or new. Socks and underwear should only be new and in original packaging. All sizes (even adult) are needed in school-appropriate clothing and shoes.
“Clothes for Kids” Free Store (Beaverton School District):
District Support Center
16550 SW Merlo Road
Beaverton, OR 97003
Program Coordinator
(503) 356-4378
kara_yunck@beaverton.k12.or.us
webpage:
www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/communications-community-involvement/clothes-for-kids
Beaverton Resource Center
The Gabriel Center supports the Beaverton Resource Center which connects those in our community struggling with hunger, housing insecurity, and poverty to local resources. We often collect donations for their Essentials Closet for specifically needed items such as full-sized shampoo, toilet paper, paper towels, unscented laundry pods, quarters for the laundromat, and school supplies. To find out our currently most needed donation items, please go here. The Resource Center is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
The Beaverton Resource Center Essentials Closet:
13565 Southwest Walker Road, Beaverton, Oregon 97005 503-207-5670
Panther Pantry at PCC Rock Creek
We always accept donations to Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus’ program to help financially struggling college students with hygiene products, individually packaged snacks, instant packaged lunch cups that can be heated in a microwave, and urgent need requests. Donations can be dropped off in the dark brown resin storage bin outside the entrance to the church or on the right side inside the church entrance in the large wooden storage bin. To find out what our most current needed items are, please go here.
Panther Pantry at PCC Rock Creek:
17705 NW Springville Rd.
Building 5, Room 113
Portland, Or 97229
971-722-7079
email for all PCC Panther Pantries: pcc-pantherpantry@pcc.edu
website: https://www.pcc.edu/panther-pantry/
St. Gabriel’s Creation Care Ministry
Why was the Creation Care Ministry formed:
During the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Diocese of Western Oregon, there was a call for parishes to
become carbon-neutral by 2030. This is in keeping with a 2022 resolution by the National Episcopal Church.
What is carbon neutrality?
Carbon-neutrality refers to eliminating carbon emissions from a building and church operations so that no carbon (carbon dioxide, methane) is added to the atmosphere. Energy generated through the use of fossil fuels for space and water heat, cooking, electricity, and church programs is the main source of carbon emissions in our facilities. Alternative energy production (wind, solar, water) creates fewer if any such emissions. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 will require substantial reductions in the use of carbon-based energy.
What is St. Gabriel’s doing to address carbon neutrality:
The Diocesan Creation Care Congregational Resources document outlines steps toward reaching the
carbon-neutrality goal. They include: 1) forming a Creation Care Team, 2) conducting an energy audit of our facility, 3) calculating our carbon footprint, and 4) creating a plan and timeline.
In early 2024, St. Gabriel’s formed a Creation Care Team which has been meeting monthly to implement this mission and to create an action plan to achieve the carbon goals set by the diocese. The Creation Care Team has met with an energy assessor and also the Energy Trust of Oregon to assess our energy use and achievable solutions to make our facility more energy efficient. Data from the utility bills of the church were used to conduct a footprint analysis for energy use of the building, showing a current net carbon output at 19.5 metric tons of CO2 per year. Natural gas usage accounted for 16.2 metric tons of that total. Based on information from the energy assessment, the Creation Care Team created a plan and is working on a timeline to achieve carbon neutrality goals. These include:
- Installation of solar shades to prevent excessive heating in the sanctuary;
- Replacement of incandescent lights with energy efficient LED lights;
- Replacement of an aging HVAC system with a geothermal or conventional heat pump system.
Who are the Creation Care Team members?
Henrietta Laustsen
Gary Laustsen
Gene Dietzman
Diane Leonard
Sara Longworth
Ian Smith
The Creation Care Team is working hard to make St. Gabriel’s a leader in caring for our Lord’s beautiful Earth. We welcome questions, ideas, and congregational expertise as we move forward. For additional information, please contact Henrietta Laustsen, henriettalaustsen@stgabrielpdx.org.