Packing Fresh Produce, Break, Milk and Cereal for St. John's Seniors

On Thursday, February 24th and Wednesday, March 2nd, several of our MCWA Ladies met at Pie In the Sky to pack bags of milk and cereal, then fresh produce to go into 15 or so vehicles to be delivered by volunteers to the home of 457 seniors who rely on these food packages.

Our Giving Circle Efforts for Pie In the Sky included accepting $15 donations to purchase shelf stable milk and halo oranges to be included in the packages. In total we collected over $700 from membership and Painting for a Cause.

Volunteers meet every week to pack food and prepare for delivery to 40 routes in St. John’s County.

Volunteers are always welcome at the the warehouse, please call 904.217.4863

350+ Bags Donated To The County's Food Pantry

The St. Johns County Food Bank was depleted due to the pandemic, and in four days just before Christmas our members heard the call and organized a successful food drive.

Acknowledging our work, Tracy Dillon, Social Services Manager of St. Johns County Health and Human Services sent this note to one of our members.

“We are extremely grateful for the Marsh Creek Community for their generous donation for our food pantry. As I stated yesterday, we assist over 40 St. Johns County residents [who] apply for food assistance/SNAP benefits thru the Department of Children and Families each month. These individuals are very grateful that we have staples to give them they leave to hold them over. In addition we administer other programs that benefit from our food closet, so this will have a positive impact to your community for months to come.

We are in the process of unpacking 350+ bags of food and are thankful beyond words for the generosity.”

Thank you to our members that donated and opened their homes for the food collection and drop off. A job well done by our Outreach Committee, Marsh Creek HOA Board and Marsh Creek Country Club.

MCWA Outreach Committee Announces the Charities to Support this Season

Each year the MCWA Outreach Committee invites local charities to submit applications for consideration for funding and support. This year we received 11 applications. Nina Pitkin and Helen Boxer reviewed and prepared summaries for each organization.

At our September Committee Meeting we discussed the key selection criteria for selecting 6 charities to support through our Giving Circle.    

  1. The committee wanted to reach kids and youth, families, and the elderly through their giving.  

  2. If a nonprofit was very well funded by many other funding sources, it would not be a priority. 

  3. The committee wanted to fund specific projects that were well thought out and very tangible (ie.playground equipment last year).

  4. The committee wanted to fund successful nonprofits that we had supported in the past, and also include new charities.

  5. Some nonprofits would be supported as volunteer opportunities for our members.

    After a long and deep discussion, agreement was reached on our 2021-2022 Nonprofits we would support. We are please to announce that MCWA will support the following local non=profit organizations this year through financial and volunteer efforts.


    Alpha Omega Miracle Home - provides housing,  education, and counseling to those who are the most vulnerable: young mothers,  their children, and senior women.

    Pattie Nolton and Ellen Blasi will be co-liaisons

    Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition - provides permanent and transitional housing to homeless  families and their children; food, clothing, household items; supportive services,  after school and summer camp activities; and also provides food and clothing to the larger homeless population. 

    Melody Ness, Pat Pope & Peggy Cutrino will be co-liaisons. 

    Food 4 Kids - provide weekend food items in backpacks  for selected students at South Woods Elementary School in Elkton, FL and their  siblings under the age of 18. 

    Adrienne Lyons and Nina Pitkin will be co-liaisons.

    Pie in the Sky - provides hope by serving with dignity and respect to  alleviate hunger and social isolation through the home delivery of fresh healthy  produce to as many low-income, hungry senior citizens as is physically and  financially possible.

    Christine Matthaei and Mimi Ianuzzi will be co-liaisons. 

    Port in the Storm - place homeless youth in nurturing programs that develop  their self esteem, so they become self-sufficient, find stable housing, and change  the trajectory of their lives.    This is a very underserved population as the children are too old for foster care and considered adults at 18.  They serve youths between 18 and 25 years of age. 

    Lise Murphy and Gayle Dodson will be co-liaisons. 

    Rodeheaver Boys Ranch - provides a wholesome home environment with an  inclusive program implementing social, educational, vocational, and spiritual  development for up to 50 boys who, because of parental death, desertion, divorce,  disability, or general dysfunction, are at-risk or insecure. 

    Lise Murphy and Helen Boxer will be co-liaisons.


Learn More About Each Organization

Shoes and Clothing for the Children of the Emergency Services & Homeless Coalition.

At the MCWA August board meeting, the board approved $1,500 for the purchase of shoes for the children at the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition. The children were happy to have shoes to wear to school. The MCWA Outreach Committee has been providing new shoes to the children of the ESHC for several years.

A sampling of the shoes and sneakers going to the children at the ESHC

ESHC's Playground Receives a Refresh

This is a wonderful example of The Giving Circle’s exponential reach.

For the past few years, the Marsh Creek Women’s Association and St. Catherine’s Guild have supported the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition monetarily and with tangible gifts of food, clothing, household items, equipment, etc.

Recently, eight Brothers of St. Andrew and two men from Marsh Creek volunteered to address the deteriorating condition and general upkeep of the playground equipment at the Homeless Coalition and Emergency Services.

The scope of work included upgrading the basketball court and five pieces of playground equipment.  The project began with pressure-washing the basketball court, the slide assembly, the rocking horses, and two swing and climbing units.  As the work began, it became clear that the two swing and climbing units required major wood replacement to make them safe for the children.

One of the two basketball backboards donated by the March Creek Women’s Association was fitted with mounting hardware and installed at the north end of the basketball court.  This freed up the temporary backboard assembly to be relocated and lowered for the smaller children.  The south backboard will be installed within the next few weeks.

As is often the case in addressing deteriorated equipment, the scope of the project expanded as the deteriorated boards were removed.  It was discovered that one unit’s climbing wall needed new support beams and the support brackets for the other unit’s elevated play platform needed to be replaced, as well.  Field fitting repairs always take a bit longer than originally expected.  Never-the-less, the volunteers on the project happily applied their numerous skills to rebuild the units.

The boards on the top platforms and climbing walls, and the boards for the platform fall protection system were replaced with new, thicker boards.  The climbing cleats on the climbing walls were reused and installed on the heavier duty climbing walls.  A five-step rope ladder was also replaced with new steps and rope.  Getting all of those knots in the right places is harder than you might think!  The pressure-treated lumber used to rebuild the climbing units will need to cure for a few months before painting can be completed.

Thanks to Br. Louie Boulier’s efforts, The Home Depot donated approximately $500 worth of materials for this project.  Additionally, St. Catherine’s Guild donated $200 to this project, which helped cover the cost of additional supplies and fasteners required to complete the repairs.  

It is estimated that a total of 160 manhours were invested in this project.  Even though the scope of the work was more than originally expected, the overall experience was very satisfying for everyone involved.

We are so grateful to the generous and kind hearted men and women who came together to support a very worthy organization, providing safe playground equipment for the children who are living on the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition campus.

They still need new swings and two new slides as well as a canopy for the playground. If you would like to make a donation for these new purchases, please click the button below.

Donate to ESHC