Just Coffee - Simple, Good and Fair:
Just Coffee is a joint venture between Frontera de Cristo border
ministries and the coffee farmers in Chiapas Mexico. They are
dedicated to addressing the immigration crisis on the U.S. - Mexico
border by connecting U.S. coffee drinkers with Mexican coffee
farmers in a just relationship. During the last eight years over
2,000 people have died migrating to the United States. Many of those
were coffee farmers.
The coffee comes from the mountains outside of Salvador Urbina in
Chiapas and is 100% organically shade-grown Arabica.
This small business has gone through some growing pains in the last
year and they are working very hard to improve the quality of their
roasting and delivery processes. At this time they are only offering
regular coffee. As their business expands they hope to provide
decaffeinated coffee. Tea is not grown in Chiapas and therefore is
not available from Just Coffee.
The coffee is now available for purchase at St. Mark's in one
pound bags of either beans or ground. To order and for more information
please call the church office at 325-1001, or visit the Just Coffee website at
www.justcoffee.org.
Food Collection Sundays Begin in January '04: Session adopted a motion brought by the Social
Justice Committee to create food collection Sundays on the
first Sunday of each month, beginning with January 4, 2004.
Collection boxes will be available in the narthex.
Cash/check contributions can also be made by using and marking pew
envelopes.
All donations will be distributed to Casa San Juan,
the Tucson Community Food bank, and House of Neighborly Service on a
rotating, and as-needed, basis. Help us relieve hunger in our community
by bringing your non-perishable food items to church each first Sunday
of the month.
Casa
Maria Lunchmaking: Every eight weeks on Saturday morning, members of
St. Mark's come together to prepare sandwiches for the 600 bag lunches
donated to Casa Maria Soup kitchen.
Humane Borders' Water Stations: People from St. Mark's church will be going along the
Buenos Aires route taking care of a total of six water stations placed
in the desert by Humane Borders. These water stations provide
much-needed water for migrants crossing the desert. The water stations
need to be refilled regularly and the area around them cleared of
litter.
There is very little walking involved with this trip,
as we are able to drive right up to five of the stations. The sixth
involves walking about 30 feet. People should wear comfortable shoes and
warm clothes at this time of the year. St. Mark’s will be servicing the
water stations on Saturday, (please call Charles Ambrose at 326-5544 for
specific dates) leaving from First Christian
Church at the corner of Speedway and Euclid around 7 a.m. and returning
around 1 p.m.
The Humane Borders' truck will hold five people plus
the driver. If more than five people express an interest in going, we
will try to get another truck or van. While we will have water and
snacks for anybody that we might find in the desert, people should bring
their own water bottle and food for themselves. If you want to go on the
January trip or have any questions, please call Charles Ambrose at
326-5544. St. Mark’ s is hoping to undertake these trips on a monthly
basis, so anyone interested in helping out is also asked to call
Charles.
