Dear Friends and Families of St. Lukes,

St. Luke’s has been quite busy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here is an update of what has been undertaken.

Early on, St. Luke’s Outreach donated 297 gift certificates for coffee & a donut to the employees of five local grocery stores as a thank you for their standing strong, working hard to keep the shelves stocked, and manning the cash registers. The five grocery stores were Bridgehampton King Kullen, Bridgehampton KMart, East Hampton Stop & Shop, East Hampton IGA, and Montauk IGA. This outreach was coordinated by Taylor and Adair Callaghan who contacted all area grocery stores (some declined to participate, but thanked us anyway), purchased the certificates, and then had them delivered to the stores. The managers and employees were overwhelmed with our thoughtfulness and acknowledgement of the essential work they do day in and day out.

St. Luke’s also initiated a ‘volunteer to parishioner’ chain calling/shopping program wherein volunteers were matched with parishioners who were self-isolating or homebound with little or no family in the area. Caroline Udelhofen produced a spreadsheet with names and contact information, and this was emailed to all the volunteers. Calls were made weekly and grocery shopping was provided. We have now expanded this to reach out to anyone who might desire a friendly call and an opportunity to chat. If you know of anyone who might like to be contacted or if you would like a call, please let us know. We have many volunteers who would love to reach out to you and many volunteers who are willing and able to shop weekly or to pick up prescriptions.

Along with the support of the Clericus of our local faith communities, St. Luke’s Church sponsored a “Thank You” ad in the East Hampton Star and The Independent, thanking all the first responders, nurses, doctors, grocery employees, and other essential workers. Donations totalling $2,000- were made to the East Hampton and Springs Food Pantries, and East Hampton Meals-on-Wheels in their honor. The WLNG radio station also ran “Thank You” announcements. Thank you to Brian Craig, Steve Haweeli, and Jeffrey Sussman for producing and implementing this ad. This was a terrific example of our faith communities working together.

Outreach donation checks totaling $6,500- have been sent to the following charitable organizations: East Hampton Community Council, East Hampton Meals-on-Wheels, The Retreat, Maureen’s Haven, East End Hospice, Rural Migrant Ministries of the Diocese, Share the Harvest Farm, East Hampton Food Pantry, Springs Food Pantry, Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, and Father Gerardo’s Centro Franciscano. Outreach will continue to make monthly donations as needed.

Deliveries of food items continue to flow from St. Luke’s generous parishioners to the East Hampton Food Pantry. Thank you! 

Speaking of generous parishioners, Carolyn Snyder and her family made, packaged, and delivered over 500 quarts of soup to senior members of our congregation and to others in the larger East Hampton, Springs, Bridgehampton, and Montauk communities.

I am so very proud of St. Luke’s Church, our church family, and grateful for the leadership of Father Denis and Mother Leandra.

Holly Thomas Whitmore

Chair, Outreach Committee