The many outreach ministries of All Saints' are at the core of our community and mission. We open our doors to feed our community and our neighbors on Tuesday nights and Sunday evenings as well as Sunday morning. We make dinner, visit, shop, raise funds, run races, throw parties and make connections in the church and the world.
You can donate to our ministries directly and we welcome you to become a part of our community. The pledges of our members help us plan our ministries budgets and provide for the facilities that house them.
Ravenswood Community Services (RCS) grew out of All Saints’ Episcopal Church’s strong commitment to meaningful neighborhood outreach. With deep support from the church, RCS operates a Food Pantry and Community Kitchen out of All Saints’ parish hall at 1757 West Wilson Avenue. RCS is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, and is an agency of the Episcopal Charities and Community Services. We partner with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, First Slice, The Night Ministry and DePaul’s School of Nursing to provide our neighbors a nutritional mix of groceries, a hot meal and access to health services. RCS also has a strong partnership with Ravenswood School, where we lead two different programs to help 7th and 8th graders consider and plan for their futures. RCS enthusiastically accepts tax-deductible donations to help provide hunger relief in our neighborhood.
The majority of RCS’ Tuesday Night neighbors live within the blocks surrounding Hermitage and Wilson. In a typical month, we provide groceries to people who live on Ainslie, Ashland, Belle Plaine, Clark, Damen, Hermitage, Lawrence, Leavitt, Leland, Magnolia, Malden, Montrose, Paulina, Pensacola, Ravenswood, Sunnyside, Wilson and Winnemac.
About 80 percent of the neighbors who come to our Food Pantry and Community Kitchen on Tuesday nights are elderly, on a fixed income, working poor people or families in our community. 20 percent of our Tuesday Night neighbors are homeless and living on the streets. In recent years – in this difficult economic climate – RCS is serving more hungry neighbors than ever before. In 2008, as compared to the first ten months of 2007, we saw the need increase by more than 35 percent – to more than 300 neighbors every Tuesday night.
There are two off-duty police officers on-site at RCS during the Food Pantry and Community Kitchen every Tuesday night, from 5-7:45 p.m. Our neighborhood outreach officers are specially trained to manage issues that may arise among our neighbors, and are available to everyone in our community.
Ravenswood Community Services is supported by a committed community. Every Tuesday night, we host 30–50 volunteers on-site who help distribute groceries, build community, cook and serve a hot meal. Our volunteer roster includes All Saints’ parishioners, neighbors who live on our block and in the surrounding area, local business people, families, children and teachers from Ravenswood School and Lawrence Hall and residents of Misericordia, among others. We are a sought-after site for students to complete their community service requirements, and have hosted student volunteers from Amundsen, Lakeview, Northside College Prep, Payton and Whitney Young high schools. We regularly receive in-kind donations from local residents, Alderman Gene Schulter’s office and area churches including Our Lady of Lourdes and Christ Church Chicago. We are members of the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce.
We could not serve the people of our community without the help of our neighborhood partners. We are proud to be an agency of Episcopal Charities and Community Services. We work with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to distribute USDA commodities. The Night Ministry supports us in our health outreach efforts. DePaul's Nursing Department partners with us to provide health skills education to its students and to our hungry neighbors.
We reach out to all neighbors in hopes of creating a community of connections, respecting the dignity of every human being. Come join us on Tuesday nights. To learn more visit the RCS website.
2009 was the 13th anniversary of the Ravenswood Run, a neighborhood 5k that begins and ends at All Saints’ and draws 3,500 runners from the area. The race raises $50,000 annually to support All Saints’ poverty relief efforts, including the Ravenswood Community Services Food Pantry and Community Kitchen, and school-based health centers serving low-income teens at local high schools.
