Outreach projects in our own community are the purpose of the Social Concerns Committee at St. Paul Lutheran.  Projects that are on-going through the year are:
    Collection of food for the St. Croix Valley Food Shelf
    Collection of good used clothing for Joseph's Coat on 7th Street in St. Paul

Other projects which are done several times throughout the year for a week at a time are:
    Volunteers help with staffing the Valley Outreach Food Shelf
    Volunteers deliver meals to shut-ins and others in need through the local Meals On Wheels program

During the Lenten season, this committee organizes the noon Soup Lunch served after each Wednesday morning church service and the evening Soup Supper served before the Wednesday evening church service.  This is a time for fellowship with other members and visitors.  All profits realized from the free will donation for these Lunches and Suppers are designated to a mission project.  In the past we have supported homeless shelters, shelters for women and children, Habitat for Humanity, and youth mission trips, and this year have added our Tanzania partnership.

We support Habitat for Humanity at the local level by participating in  Saturday workdays at one of the sites in the Twin Cities.  At the national level we support Habitat for Hunamity by spending a week working at a Habitat Builds site in Mississippi.  We started this annual Mississippi Habitat Mission trip in 1990 and originally worked at the Coahoma site.  We have also worked in Jonestown, Farell-Sharard and for the past few years in Clarksdale.  Several people spend one week working and living at the Mississippi site.  

In the fall, we serve members of our church unable to do outside work such as window washing and lawn raking.

We have recently added a Tanzania Partnership to our outreach and mission projects.  We initiated the start of a companionship through the St. Paul Synod with a church in the Iringa Diocese in Tanzania, Africa.  Our parish is Mgama Parish and as yet does not have a pastor because it is a split from a larger parish which is now sponsored by Pastor Roger, our visitation pastor's, home church, Christ Lutheran on Capital HIll in St. Paul.  As a companior partnership congregation, we will pray for those in the Mgama Parish on a regular basis, give financial support yearly of $1,000 to be used for their needs (not as a pastor's salary).  We are one of 63 partnerships in the Iringa Diocese.  Optional giving can be done by providing scholarships for students to attend secondary school  We are currently supporting 2 student at $300 a year.  Other suport can be given, if so decided, to dig wells, provide bicycles or motor bikes for pastors, bring guests from Iringa to the local parish or send local parish members to Iringa.  We prepared an informational book about St. Paul Lutheran Church for Pastor Roger to take to Tanzania on his visit to his congregation's parish in February.  We are excited about reaching out to fellow Christians in another country and to know that they will be praying for us.

Other financial contributions and support provided by the Social Concerns committee as an outreach of our congregation: 
We used funds from our savings account to give support to the St. Croix Chaplaincy Association, Southeast Asian Ministry, Operation Christmas Child, Union Gospel Mission Thanksgiving meals, Our Saviours' Shelter, Simpson Housing, Robin's Nest, Peace House, Clarksdale Habitat for Humanity, and International Ministerial Fellowship in Africa. 

This committee takes it direction from Matthew 25:31-46.  In these verses Jesus relates how, when we have helped the hungry, homeless, sick, or clothed someone in need, we have indeed done it to Him.  To God be the glory.