Giving Shelter to the Homeless

“Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless.” -Isaiah 58:7 (NLT) Members of First CRC in midtown Toronto have been picking up garden tools, cooking chili, hosting information sessions, and packing backpacks and baskets in an effort to live out this verse in their own neighbourhood.

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When Church & Community Come Together

Over ten years ago, a group of people at John Calvin CRC began dreaming about how to combine the assets and resources of the church with their local community while addressing food insecurity and promoting wise, environmental stewardship. The Glenwood Drive Community Garden was born!

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New Year… New Approaches(?), Part II

A food bank that doesn’t give out any cans??

What if food banks are making people dependent on short-term solutions, focusing only on symptoms while dismissing long-term answers and/or underlying problems?

Watch this interview with John Klein Geltink about a different way to help!

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New Year… New Approaches(?) -Part I

What if food banks and community fridges and a lot of our well-meaning efforts are actually making people dependent on short-term solutions, focusing only on symptoms while dismissing long-term answers and/or underlying problems? What is a church to do?

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Community Garden puts People before Plants

When asked where the idea for a community garden came from, Pastor Marcel deRegt noted that the idea came to him as he was looking out over some of the church property, wondering how that “resource” could be better utilized to serve their broader community. He also shared about Gateway’s desire to be so involved and impactful in the community, that if they were to close their doors, the broader community would not just notice the vacant building, but would be grieved at the loss. He wondered if the community gardens could be another way the church could invest in and work with their local community.

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