03/08/2021
We were asked to submit a final annual report to St Peter's Anglican Church to be published and given to the parish as a final update to the closure of the Ohana Cafe. The report was written and submitted, but not included in the annual reports given to the Parish. Our final annual report is below. Thank you to all who were a part of Ohana Cafe.
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Final Report Ohana Café 2020
It is with mixed and somewhat sad feelings that I write this final report for Ohana Café ministry. I have had the privilege of serving at Ohana Café for the last 4 years. In that time we have seen a steady increase in students that came for lunch, built partnerships with others in the community like Young Life and the Staff team at Henry Wisewood High School, and seen God move in wonderful ways. We have had opportunity to minister to not only the general student body, but also to work with students one on one through work experience programs, and mentor students from the ACCESS program, as well as reach out and support people in the community at large. We have served lunches, given out hampers, helped struggling community members move residences, and supported the monthly community dinners that connected our parish to one another and the community. We have built amazing relationships, and had countless opportunities to share the love of God in actions as well as conversations with so many people. We had the opportunities to reach out and connect and support literally hundreds of people every month, and thousands over the year each year. It has be such an honor to be part of this incredibly successful outreach ministry.
This past year has been such a year of change for all of us. For Ohana, the sudden closure of the school in March closed the door to ministry to the students over the lunch breaks. We brainstormed how we could still reach out and support people as we entered the incredibly difficult season that has been responding to the COVID – 19 pandemic, and came up with an idea. After meeting with Rev. Jagdutt, we began a program of preparing 5 menu items, freezing them in large frozen lunch servings, and making them available for no contact delivery to those who were in isolation or quarantine. We had an effective plan in place that kept our staff and community safe, and was well above the provincial expectations, and began delivering meals. In one week, we delivered about 400 meals. People in the community were responding with such enthusiasm, and were incredibly grateful for the opportunity for good home cooked meals at such low cost. But unfortunately it was decided that even the use of the kitchen in the building could not continue, so the program was ended.
We had hoped to find some way to navigate into ministry and support of the community in the fall. You may not realize it, but Ohana Café has always been responsible to raise the funds needed to keep the ministry going. All Café food, expenses, and even staff wages were always expected to be paid with resources that were raised by or specifically for Ohana. This would prevent the ministry from becoming a burden to the parish. Because I was responsible to manage purchases, food shopping, and was primarily in charge of fund raising to keep the ministry going, I have always kept copies of every receipt for expenses and all monies raised so I could always be aware of and planning for the ministries finances. When Ohana was closed the ministry had almost $15,000 in our ministry line already raised and ready towards the new school year for the fall. We had also worked with Calgary Foundation to secure an additional wonderful donation of $10,000 more. This would have put us starting the September school year with approximately $25,000 for the ministry to work with. The goal each year was to have a minimum of $20,000 in the account for beginning in September, so we were well above our goals to be able to do outreach work without burdening the parish. Unfortunately, the decision was made to shut down Ohana Café Ministry permanently during the summer. So all planning for fall or future was suspended.
I wish everyone in the parish all the best, and miss so many of you that I had the chance to work beside through the ministry of Ohana Café. Although the ministry is gone, the memories and the fruit in the lives of those who were a part of the Ohana journey will live on. In this time of uncertainty, I leave you with these thoughts. Our little parish touched literally thousands of lives through Ohana Café. You were a part of that ministry. Even if you had never been downstairs serving physically in the café, you were a part, as a parish, of impacting so many young lives for Christ. We as a parish have reached out and loved on people with no expectation of anything in return. We have been the hands and feet of Jesus, just as He asks us to. In the words of one of my favorite songs …. “Thank you, for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am so glad you gave.”
May God richly bless and keep each of you now and always,
Cameron Graham
Former Ohana Café Coordinator
