“We sought this opportunity to respond to the growing need in our community of families and individuals who are being squeezed by the current economic conditions,” said The Reverend Canon Robert Edwards, Rector of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. “We know many in our community are facing difficult times. Many need help to make ends meet and to feed their families. Angel Food is a perfect way for us to provide direct help and support to our community.”

St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, located at 31641 La Novia, San Juan Capistrano, is a newly designated distribution center for Angel Food Ministries , a nationwide non-profit food relief organization that provides low-cost, high-quality food on a monthly basis for local families, individuals and seniors.

Angel Food provides individuals and families with fresh, brand name food for a fraction of the retail price. By purchasing food in bulk, directly from some of the top suppliers in the country, food is discounted by up to 50 percent of retail costs. A standard medium-sized box of food may be purchased for $30, and contains top quality food staples from every food group, including chicken or beef, milk, eggs, vegetables and fruits. Each of the regular boxes of food feeds a family of four for about one week or a single individual for almost a month. The menu selections vary each month, and consist of both fresh and frozen items, saving residents money with no sacrifice to quality. There is even a box geared towards the nutrition for people on the go.

Angel Food at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church is available to everyone. Food must be ordered and paid for in advance, online or in person at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. Cash, check, credit card and SNAP are accepted. There are no limits to the quantity of boxes per individual. The next distribution day is Saturday, May 22, 9 – 11 a.m., at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. For more information, please contact St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 949.661.0110, church@stmarg.org, or visit www.stmarg.org.

About Angel Food Ministries

Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing financial support in the form of food relief to communities throughout the United States. Established in 1994 to provide relief for struggling families in the Monroe, GA area, Angel Food Ministries today serves hundreds of thousands of families across 42 states, recently welcoming Nevada to the roster where Angel Food’s benefits can be realized. Since inception, Angel Food Ministries has fed more than 22 million Americans. In 2008, AFM provided $120 million in direct food assistance to American families.

About St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church

St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church is a Center of Grace and all of its related ministries are to build our relationships with God through Christ, and to build relationships with the people Christ has sent to us. We know that the greatest gift we can offer individuals is the knowledge that they are loved by God, through Jesus Christ. St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church was founded in 1978 by The Reverend Canon Ernest D. Sillers and serves the people of San Juan Capistrano and neighboring communities.

Read more about Lemon Fest and view a photo gallery.

Read The Orange County Register article about Lemon Fest.

Lemon-Fest grew out of as discussion about the possibility of a talent show to raise funds to assist the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. I don’t think anyone knew how influential the event would eventually become.

Months ago, the Upper School started planning to team up with the rest of St. Margaret’s and the San Juan community to do our part to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. After the initial meeting, I, along with many other Upper School students, began to reach out to our contacts in the community. Once we started to get a feel for the event, and an idea about what it was shaping into, we decided to reach out to other groups.

My family and I have been involved with the Orange County Discovery Science Center for many years, and I had hoped they would support Lemon-Fest. Sure enough, after phone calls back and forth, they confirmed their attendance, and they were just as enthusiastic as we were. Hot Dog on a Stick and their famous lemonade was able to make an appearance as well, despite their demanding schedule. The magnitude of the event really began to set in, as we received an overwhelming amount of support from the community.

Watching the event evolve from a small talent show to a Tartan-esque fair and a St. Margaret’s Talent Show, with a presentation about earthquakes from the Discovery Science Center, was extraordinary . . . the day was just indescribable. This event reminded me why I am so proud to be a member of the St. Margaret’s community.

At the fair, there was something for everyone, from face-painting by our Upper School students, to cookie-decorating. Even the Billabong Tour Bus was at St. Margaret’s that day. Every division of the school had a part, and the continuous support that we received from so many students, families, and companies really made the day a success.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Lemon-Fest! The day made an impact on those of us involved. But that was not the most important part—at the end of the day, we were really just doing our best to assist the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. There is no doubt in my mind that we did what we set out to do, to help people, and for that we should all be proud.

Last week the St. Margaret’s community donated just under 5,000 books! Wow!

This is a great benefit to others as well as to the environment: Every one of the donated books will stay out of landfills and will be used for the greater good of our global and local community. Thanks to all of you for your overwhelming participation in this event!

The majority of the books were sent to Better World Books, an organization that will resell the books and send the proceeds to Invisible Children to build and supply schools in Uganda.

Some books that were not accepted by Better World Books have been donated to LifeHouse Ministry of Orange County,  where they will be used to establish a library for the homeless. Other books were sent to a transitional-living family home and to an elementary school that has no funding for their library.

As part of the Celebrating Community school-wide effort, the Library Book Drive was organized and implemented by Library Technician Rosemary DeSa. Books were collected from donation bins and brought to the library by the Middle School Book Club. Book Club members include Sydney Lake, Curtis McMackin, Kendall Robison, Kenley Farace, Tia Tanaka, Katie Weaver, Sarah Reeves, Hana Thomas and Alexandra Zalewski. Preschool/Lower School parent Paddi Sharifian volunteered numerous hours sorting books and organizing the other parent volunteers, who included Elizabeth MacKay, Elizabeth Novick, Lisa Young, Joan Basombrio and Sharon Hope. Thanks to all our dedicated volunteers for making this event such a smooth running success!

Didn’t get a chance to donate your books? The Library will continue to collect books for the remainder of the school year. Books can be dropped off in the Better World Books bin located just inside the Library door.

Nicholas just celebrated his 7th birthday and decided the best way to share his good fortune would be to ask party guests to bring new toys, clothes and DVDs to donate to the Orangewood Children’s Home rather than gifts. On March 10, he dropped by with his family to proudly deliver the gifts. This kind of act of charity has left a profound impression on Nicholas, reminding him how lucky he is and how simple gestures can help others.

Four first graders: Jamie and Hailey McKay, Mitchell Frye, and Quinn Novick planned, researched, held a lemonade stand in Laguna Beach and raised $104.50 for the Episcopal Church in Haiti!

On March 10, a sunny afternoon, our family traveled to OC Animal Care in the city of Orange to volunteer for the “Give A Day. Get a Disney Day” program. Nicholas (1st grade), his Nana and I spent the afternoon preparing pet goody-bags and decorating the dog pens for a special spay and neuter event to be held at the shelter. We each got to create a special sign for a particular dog; Nicholas picked Malcolm, a cute chiuahua mix. We met other wonderful volunteers and got to spend time with the cutest dogs and cats. I hope we can spend time volunteering at the shelter again in the future! We loved it!

To announce their plan, members of the Student Council performed a skit in Chapel for the entire Lower School. Skit performers include grade 5 students Puja Patel, Ryan Penske, James Swanson, Avery Bren, Emily Parker, Sara Gareeb and Jessica Guerinot.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The outreach sports program, ongoing throughout February, began when community member Ken Friess and Coach Leneau collaborated to help “kids helping kids.” Coach Leneau and the St. Margaret’s wrestlers made trips on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to help instruct the younger wrestlers in technique and strategy.

The positive impact that the St. Margaret’s students had on the younger wrestlers was significant. Mr. Friess shared, “I was absolutely overwhelmed by what a positive impact Coach Leneau and the St. Margaret’s wrestlers had on our team. I have no doubt that some of our wrestlers will get a tournament medal who would not have earned one if your team were not helping them.” St. Margaret’s students valued the time they were able to spend sharing their skills and serving the community. Justin Ren, grade 9, said, “It was really fun to work with the kids. We taught them a lot, focusing on the basic. You could tell they were really enjoying themselves.”

Coach Leneau, who has wrestled for over 20 years and has coached JV and varsity wrestling at St. Margaret’s for five years, says that he hoped this opportunity to work with Middle School wrestlers outside of St. Margaret’s would help build interest in wrestling. “It empowers Middle School wrestlers to become better wrestlers, leaders or even teachers,” Leneau said.

Members of the St. Margaret’s wrestling team who have been helping the Middle School wrestlers off-campus include: Charles Cox, grade 11; Mitchell Donahue, grade 9; Jacob Garrett, grade 10; Nathan Goodman, grade 9; Spencer Keane, grade 12; John Murayama, grade 12; Stephanie Ornelas, grade 11; Justin Ren, grade 9; Joey Sego, grade 11; David Sparks, grade 9; Nicholas Toubia, grade 10; and David Walters, grade 9.

The student’s total volunteer hours were clocked at 150!

On February 12, students in St. Margaret’s Middle School made flower bouquets for the elderly of Silverado Senior Living. The flowers were brought in that morning by the students. Many students participated in this project, and we ended up making 85 flower bouquets. We also made cards to go with these bouquets, with messages such as “Happy Valentine’s Day.” The Middle School students put time and care into the making of the flower bouquets, cutting them and fitting them perfectly to look great on a night stand or table. The student council then took the box of flowers and cards and delivered them to Silverado Friday afternoon.

Click here for photo gallery.

The need exists every week and the Church is always looking for volunteers. This was a great family service project for us. Mrs. Allison provided the easy steps to follow to make the oatmeal and the hand-out procedures. The round trip to El Patio was under an hour. It’s very easy for young children to participate—our Preschooler and Lower Schooler added the brown sugar and raisins and helped affix the lids. And, it sparked many great questions and conversations. If you are looking for a service project for your family, this is a great way to jump in, no training or registration required, and get involved!