St. Peter’s Outreach Team (SPOT)

St. Peter’s mission and outreach efforts serve the Lord through our service and support to various local, national, and international projects. In addition to serving organizations in the local and broader community, we host an onsite free food pantry available to the public, and have an in-house ministry that is a more personal expression of service to God, Peace by Piece Quilters.

Some examples of our local efforts include our ongoing collection of nonperishable food, which goes monthly to support the town of South Windsor’s Food and Fuel Bank, and Hartford Bags of Love, supporting the homeless. On the first Monday of each month, and when there is a fifth Monday, a team of parishioners put together a meal for the Friendship Kitchen in East Hartford, which is served to members of that community who experience food insecurity.

We have also hosted a coat and winterwear collection drive to help provide some necessary warmth to members of our homeless community. Additionally we participate locally in the annual Crop Hunger Walk in the fall to raise money for organizations that address food insecurity. In conjunction with one of our Chartered Scout Troops, BSA Troop 682 for girls, we installed a free little pantry in the summer of 2020 where area residents may get food when they are in need. On the first Monday of the month, and on fifth Mondays, we hep to prepare and serve meals through the Friendship Soup Kitchen in East Hartford.

During the season of Advent we enjoy undertaking our Christmas for Others project, an effort to bring holiday cheer to individuals who might not otherwise receive any. We have provided gifts to children as well as members of homeless communities in our area.

When a government shutdown left some local residents without a paycheck, St. Peter’s joined forces with others in the community to prepare “furlough freezer meals” to help families through lean times. More than forty meals were prepared in an effort to stem food insecurity during an uncertain time.

Beginning in 2018, in partnership with the South Windsor Senior Services St. Peter’s has hosted a Thanksgiving Day meal for area seniors who might otherwise be alone on the holiday. In the height of the first season of the pandemic in 2020 we continued to offer this meal to our seniors, serving more than 130 meals to our residents, as well as providing a holiday dinner to the staff on shift at the South Windsor Police Department. We are grateful to Troop 682 for their assistance in this ministry, as well.

Each summer we have a special summer project. Some years we have collected supplies for children in need in the town of South Windsor. We have also raised money to provide water to residents in Flint, MI, personal items and toys for women and children in domestic violence shelters, and helped children and families get mosquito netting in Sub-Saharan African countries. In 2025 we provided items for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center’s Pediatric Oncology Department in support of kids undergoing cancer treatment. A wish list for those items may be found here.

In response to emergent needs we collect funds to help when natural disasters hit various areas of the United States or the world, ranging from the impact of flooding and hurricanes to the devastation of forest fires. On other occasions we gave support local ministries assisting refugees with resettlement.

Our Sunday school curriculum has included a number of service projects throughout the year that reflect the desire of our children to make an impact closer to home. They have provided gardening and other tools to residents of local veterans communities, and decorated book bags to fill with books for area children to enhance summer reading programs, to name two.

Some of our ongoing international work includes the establishment and continuing work to grow the Africa Education Partnership (AEP). The AEP works to build and maintain partnerships with communities in the USA and in Africa through education for all qualified applicants regardless of religious beliefs, origin, or gender. Its initial focus is in Northern Nigeria.

As our budget allows we have supported other organizations from time to time that address a variety of needs domestically and globally. Among them: Sudan Sunrise, Five Talents, Living Water International, Latin American Missionary and Bible Institute (LAMB), and Thistle Farms and Freedom Firm, both of which work to assist women and girls victimized by sex trafficking.

We are always looking for new ways that we can continue to grow our faith in action, and welcome ideas and participation from interested members.