It's time once again to come together to collect and  donate school supplies to a local public elementary school, Oscar J. Pope.  95% of OJP's students come from low income families and 35% are special-needs students (autistic to hearing impaired) from all over the county.  Most OJP parents have trouble affording basic school supply and clothing needs, school budgets are shrinking, and there is no PTA to pick up the slack.  This usually means that the teachers have to dig into their own pocket to furnish needed classroom resources and school supplies for their students.  So Vine comes alongside and working together we try to stock up Oscar Pope with what it needs to have a successful start to the year.

We've contacted the teachers, and here are the items most needed for the classrooms and the students.

Here are your donation options!

1. Donate a backpack, filled with each of the school supply items (approx. $30 cost)
2. Donate individual school supply items listed below
3. Give money, and our team will buy the needed school supplies for you!  (Checks: payable to FPC, memo: OJP School Supplies).

Needed Items:

Backpacks

Crayons (8,16 or 24 ct. boxes)

#2 pencils

Primary pencils with attached erasers

Glue sticks

Quart and gallon sized ziplock bags

Folders with pockets and brads

Spiral notebooks (70 sheet books)

Yellow highlighters

Cap erasers

Large pink erasers

Colored pencils

Pencil boxes

Kleenex

Hand Soap

Antibacterial hand wipes

shoes, they are needed for both girls and boys.  Shoe sizes can range from 11 (child) to 8 (older children).

Thank You!

35 volunteers participated in a "glean" on June 5th.  We travelled to a tomato field outside Ruskin to pick leftover produce to donate to Beth-El farmworker ministry in its work distributing food to the poor and hungry of Central Florida.  We picked about 2,300 lbs of tomatoes...enough to fill a van from top to bottom, front to back!

To learn more about The Society of St. Andrews, and to participate in a glean as a volunteer, contact Margie Lewis at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 863.644.5822.

Thanks to Margie and Jennie Ellis for the pictures!

About 50 volunteers from VINE and FPC came to bless the students and staff of Oscar Pope elementary school on Saturday, April 10 for the "Love Our Neighbor" community workday!  We were able to beautify the front of the school, add landscaping around the new school sign, weed and mulch in front and at the entrance to the library, and help teachers with classroom projects.  We were also blessed to be joined by the school principal and vice-principal, as well as other teachers and staff from OJP!  Boy Scout Troop 104 came and provided a great cookout lunch.

Thanks to Carol Prevatt for the great pics!!

It was an amazing day!  Over 100 families came to receive a Thanksgiving food box on Saturday, Nov. 21.  There were activities for kids, a picnic lunch, and...best of all...the opportunity to pray with each family (their requests were also pinned up on a cross, which we brought to Vine the next day so people could take them home and pray for a family during the week).  We learned about some heartbreaking needs, but were strengthened by God's love and blessing given and received!

Thanks to the Blanchards for the great pics!!