Vine Community

Sunday 10:30 am

A worship community of First Presbyterian Church - Lakeland, FL

Missional

OJP School Supply Drive! - Now Until August 19, 2010!

Logo_-_web 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!

Donate a backpack, filled with each of the school supply items (approx. $30 cost)
Donate individual school supply items listed below
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).

Bring to Vine on Sundays or drop off during business hours at FPC anytime during the week! Donation deadline: August 19!!!

Thank You!

Scenes from Haiti Mission - July 2010

24 people travelled to Haiti July 17-24. They helped with local construction projects (continuing to rebuild after the devastating earthquake earlier this year), offered English-Creole instruction, led kids programs, and participated in worship. To learn more about the next trip to Haiti, contact Kenny with Church Partners International at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Scenes from a Glean

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!

Scenes from the Spring Community Workday

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!!

2010 Mission Trip to Haiti

2323232327ffp5363b43enu3d323a63e633b3e6553e2397633b746239ot1lsi Your journey begins July 17 when you travel from Lakeland to Miami, then on to Port Au Prince, Haiti. From there, a drive into the cool, tropical heights of the mountains to the village of Chauffard to spend a week working at the mission station setup by Community Partners, International. You will bring medicine and clothing, conduct a program for children, participate in work project, and more. But most importantly, your life will be changed by sharing the peace and hope of God with the people of Haiti!

Trip is July 17-24. Group size: 20.

Scenes from the Thanksgiving Food Distribution

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!!

Scenes from Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Collection

Thanks to all the Vine kids and adults who brought a shoebox full of toys, clothing items, stationery, candy and more for Operation Christmas Child with Samaritan's Purse! Shoeboxes leave today (Monday, Nov. 23) and travel to the distribution center in Atlanta...then on to a needy child in the world!

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk

What a great morning, cheering on the walkers (which included many cancer survivors) in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk around Lake Hollingsworth. We helped the walkers enter their homestretch with encouraging messages in chalk on the sidewalk, signs and cheers. We were especially glad to have new Vine-ian Linda Peach (with the pink balloon and her husband, Gary) who was diagnosed with breast cancer this summer and is taking radiation treatments now, help with the cheering!

Community Workday - Oct. 10 at Anchor House

3756314048_ee7d25080b Join our team on Saturday, October 10 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. We’re going to Anchor House—a group home for boys—to paint, landscape and do light construction. Sign up at Vine on Sunday, call 686-7187, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it !

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