Friends,
For the next several weeks, I want to use this space in the newsletter to let you know the ways in which the Presbyterian Church of Lake Travis and our members have been engaged in our larger community. While the pandemic has kept us from gathering together for worship and other large-group activities, it has not kept us from being faithful followers of Jesus, loving our neighbors and living our faith!
Today’s update comes from our Hudson Bend Mission Project. Before the pandemic, a team of volunteers gathered each Saturday to make sack lunches and deliver them to four RV parks in Hudson Bend. This team was making 120 lunches every week, and all of them were enjoyed! When the pandemic hit, schools shut down, people lost jobs, and even the Central Texas Food Bank stopped bringing the mobile food pantry truck out to our community. Our Hudson Bend Mission team kicked into gear.
We have seen several iterations of providing food assistance throughout the year. As of today, our food assistance is one part of a broader effort by our Interfaith partners and others. Once every two weeks, volunteers drive to East Austin to pick up 50 food boxes filled with approximately 20 lbs of canned goods and other shelf-stable food. Those boxes are provided by Central Texas Food Bank and distributed through El Buen Samaritano. On alternating weeks, a team from PCLT still gathers to assemble lunch groceries to be delivered to the parks. Other congregations and organizations have also been donating and delivering food and other household supplies.
Esme, our Coordinator in the Armadillo Park, has set up a food pantry room. Families in need can come and choose what food their family would like. Tammera, our Coordinator in the New World Park, has done the same.
Thank you to all of our PCLT volunteers: Priscilla Mojica-Rust, Dom and Janet Cavalucci, Nancy Vanzandt, Chrystie Thrasher, Terry McKetta, Joanne Schutte, Helen and Larry Foster, JR Barden, Leslie Wilkinson and Malissa Smith. You are providing love and assistance to many families, just as Jesus taught in Matthew 25!
Peace,
Pastor Jack
