To have a more productive outreach to those in need, many of the churches in the Taneytown area banded together more than 30 years ago to form the private "Our basic idea behind it is to together provide assistance to folks in our community, because we're stronger together than we are as individuals," said the Rev. Steven Ostendorf-Snell, president of the organization and pastor at Grace United Church of Christ in Taneytown.
Caring & Sharing is currently made up of Emmanuel Baust United Church of Christ, Grace United Church of Christ, Keymar Evangelical Wesleyan Church, Messiah United Methodist Church, Piney Creek Church of the Brethren, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Taneytown Baptist Church, Taneytown Presbyterian Church and Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ostendorf-Snell said.
Pastors and lay leaders from the nine churches work together to collect and disperse money for the Community Needs Fund. The fund receives requests from community members facing situations such as eviction, utility shut-off, unpaid oil bills and more, which are forwarded to Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc. to evaluate the situation and see if any existing county or state programs are available to help with the specific need, Ostendorf-Snell said.
For example, if a family cannot pay its electrical bill because of an extreme hardship, HSP can refer the family to the Maryland Energy Assistance Program, which exists for these situations, he said.
If no other programs are available, and if the Community Needs Fund has the ability to give a donation to assist the situation, the ministry often does. The fund helped 83 families in 2014, said Barbara Harvey-Ziegler, secretary of the nonprofit.
"We offer a limited benefit — we're capped out at $150 of help per family per 12 months," Ostendorf-Snell said. "It's not a lot of help, but it's pretty much all we can do at this point."
The ministry is a bare-bones operation, Ostendorf-Snell said.
"We don't have a budget — whatever funds come in, 100 percent of those funds go right back out," he said. "We have no overhead costs; we have no office, we have no telephone number."
Anyone seeking to contact Caring & Sharing should call the church of the current president, which is Ostendorf-Snell's Grace UCC at this time. The nonprofit uses a P.O. Box to receive mail and donations.
In addition to the Community Needs Fund, Caring & Sharing offers the Carpenter's Table, a weekly hot meal, at 11:30 a.m. Thursdays, excluding holidays. The meal is held at St. Joseph Catholic Church, though five churches are part of a rotation to cook and serve the meal each week, Ostendorf-Snell said, while other churches in the ministry help through donations of money or goods. About 45 people attend the weekly meal on average, Harvey-Ziegler said.
This year for the first time, the nonprofit sponsored a meal on Thanksgiving Day, which was attended by about 75 people and took place at the American Legion, Harvey-Ziegler said.
"Personally, I think the meal went very well," Harvey-Ziegler wrote in an email. "The number of volunteers that helped in all ways was so wonderfully overwhelming! Many hearts were warmed this past Thanksgiving due to a lot of caring individuals in our community, as well as the Taneytown American Legion (Post 120), all who helped to make this a reality for Taneytown."
In addition to sponsoring the hot meal at the Carpenter's Table, many of the partnering churches support a food bank also hosted at St. Joseph.
"Our churches, for the last three years, have had a concentrated effort on collecting nonperishable food items and health items and donating them straight to the Taneytown Carroll [County] Food Sunday," Ostendorf-Snell said.
Caring & Sharing is also a partner with Mission of Mercy, a mobile medical clinic that makes monthly trips to Taneytown to provide free healthcare, dental care and prescription medications to "the uninsured, underinsured and those who 'fall through the cracks' of the healthcare system," according to the group's website. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran is the current host for these visits, and while the clinic is set up in the parking lot, the church opens its doors to provide a warm waiting area and a food for the patients.
While caring for the disadvantaged is one side of Caring & Sharing, there's also a spiritual side, of gathering members from the different congregations together in worship. To that end, the nonprofit coordinates a Good Friday Cross Processional that walks to five churches within downtown Taneytown, a community Vacation Bible School where multiple churches band together to offer one cooperative program, and a community Thanksgiving service held the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day.
Holding the Thanksgiving Day meal for the community's disadvantaged had been a long-term goal that the nonprofit was excited to see accomplished in 2014. Another long-term goal is to have a greater outreach toward the homeless population in Taneytown, Ostendorf-Snell said, but currently the nonprofit does not have the resources to tackle this issue.
"It's a big issue, an issue that's bigger than we are, but it's certainly weighing on our hearts," he said.
In the meantime, the organization is remaining focused on collecting whatever donations it can and dispersing them to people who come to them for help — an issue that thankfully catches the interest of other individuals, businesses and clubs in Taneytown.
"When people know that we're helping people here in the zone where we are, I think that makes them much more giving and generous when it comes to giving, because we really are helping our neighbors, and that's a big part of what Caring & Sharing is about," Ostendorf-Snell said. "We're trying to help our neighbors who are in need."
Caring & Sharing Ministries can be reached at 410-756-2302 and receives mail at P.O. Box 384, Taneytown, MD 21787. The organization's website is http://www.nwcccs.org.
Roast in Middleburg
The Terra Rubra Lions Club is having a Bull, Oyster & Shrimp Feed from 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 24 at Terra Rubra Ballpark, 6300 Middleburg Road, Middleburg.
Tickets are $35 each and must be purchased in advance. The menu includes pit beef, fried and steamed shrimp, oysters in "just about any way you want 'em," hot dogs and sauerkraut, salads, bologna, cheese, chips, pretzels, soda, beer and iced tea.
Small games of chance, raffles and a 50/50 drawing will all be part of the event.
For tickets or more information, call 410-751-1673.
Bingo donors sought
The Advanced Placement (AP) Committee at Francis Scott Key High School is planning a Thirty-One Bag Bingo for February and is looking for businesses or community members who are willing to sponsor filled bags.
All proceeds from this event will be used for AP scholarships to help FSK students defray the costs of taking AP exams, which can count toward college credits.
Anyone who is able to assist is asked to contact Assistant Principal Kim Stem at kkstem@carrollk12.org or call 410-751-3320.
Carrie Ann Knauer covers New Windsor, Union Bridge, Taneytown and neighboring communities in the West Carroll area. Contact her at 410-596-9248 or carrie.knauer@gmail.com.
