Sherry Ledford, a good member of CPC had named the church to be recipient of her estate. When the funds were received (@ $180,000), Session had decided to take 10% of that estate (@ $18,000) and gave instructions to the Mission and Outreach committee to find a suitable way to distribute the funds as a Mission gift in Sherry’s honor. M & O has taken this charge and spent several years to find the best way to be good stewards of this gift. We were certain that the worthy recipient was to be local and dedicated to aid a large population in need but also be put to use to be a lasting legacy. One group we had initially considered was Vallejo Together, for establishing safe housing for those in need.  Recently they have been very active in helping feeding the Homeless and assisting with the Portable Shower Unit.

The concept of showers for the Homeless or more appropriately, people in need, was one way to return some dignity in their lives. People using this service have stated they had not had an opportunity to shower for months and claim a sensation of renewal and hope. Lighthouse Covenant Church had initially formulated the idea of portable showers and in 2019 an anonymous donor provided funds to purchase the unit. The portable shower has been driven to several locations in order to reach out to its intended population using a volunteer Truck and driver. The Demand for the service has been limited by the fact that a volunteer truck is not always available, Vallejo Together is involved with Lighthouse Covenant Church in coordinating volunteers and setting up schedules and locations when the showers were available.

Our committee had learned that Lighthouse Covenant Church was looking for a reliable used truck to buy, since there would be more trained drivers available using this dedicated truck. They did find a truck and were trying to find a way to purchase this truck. The M & O committee decided this would be a perfect use of Sherry’s endowment and did recommend to Session to release a check for $14,500 to pay for the truck, taxes and transfer fee. Lighthouse Covenant will have ownership, pay insurance and provide maintenance. The Truck has been purchased and in now ready to better serve people in need in the Benicia/Vallejo area.

This has been one step towards ending the sigma of living in the streets. The Mobile Shower program is a vehicle for Navigating our homeless residents to local resources providing food, clothing, eligibility benefits, medical care, and housing assistance. At the forefront of all that is offered is treating each individual with dignity and compassion. Forming relationships and building trust is the foundation of all these efforts.

Lighthouse Covenant Church works closely with Vallejo Together to identify locations where “friends in need “can access the showers. Locations have been at Nomadic Shelter host sites, Faith Food Fridays, Emanuel Apostolic Temple, and The Christian Help Center. The shower now is going out every Tuesday 11 to 1 and some Saturdays 10 to noon. Vallejo Together Mobile Shower coordinator Francie McMillan, is training and scheduling volunteers. Vallejo Together provides toiletry items, towels, and new underwear for each recipient. Volunteers are needed for 2–3-hour shifts. Volunteers will need to sign a liability waiver. They are covered under insurance held by Lighthouse Covenant Fellowship. They would be trained while on the job. There is a multi-page handout with policies and procedures. There is no need for physical donations at this time. In the future, there will be a need for toiletries, underwear and perhaps, socks.

Hello Everyone! My name is Parker Stewart, and I am a boy scout of Troop 007 located in Benicia. These past couple of months, I have been working on obtaining my Eagle rank, the highest achievable rank in scouting. To do this, I planned and carried out a service project to benefit CPC church. My project was to build and install soundproofing insulation panels in the Fellowship Hall and in Room 2 to reduce echo and sound pollution. Through much work, we completed the project and hung 34 baffles in the fellowship hall. 

However, the supplies for these baffles were expensive, and although kind friends and family have donated to my project, there is still $300 of materials unpaid for. If you want to help contribute to the project, please donate to the church's building fund. It would not only help me, but it would help future projects and the church in general. Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way and helped me get my project done. 

The Global Holiday Faire was quite successful despite being held virtually. All sales were handled through the website and all the nonprofit organizations were assisted to some extent. Heifer International was a huge success, raising $4,282.00! Thanks to all who supported the Faire by making a purchase or by donating to one of our vendors. Thanks also to everyone who made a gift basket and to all who spread the word to promote the Faire’s virtual marketplace. 

The Faire plans to be back (hopefully in person) next December; mark your calendars for Saturday, December 4, 2021.