Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

While the Northeast's present blizzard made it necessary for me to stay in NYC for the weekend (Amtrak cancelled all trains to Boston) - I'm fortunate enough to resources and family in the city, so staying is really not an inconvenience or a hardship.

Between texts and phone calls, my husband has been keeping me up-to-date regarding the amount of snow in the driveway, the fact that he’s started shoveling from the back porch around to the front of the house as both the front and back doors are blocked by snow. The plows are coming by the house regularly, our neighbor is offering his snow blower to help clear the driveway, and the kitchen is stocked with Bill’s favorite snacks.

Yet for the many Americans who struggle to make ends meet, snow days can mean less work and less pay, making it harder for them to meet their basin needs. For first responders and essential workers, a storm means long hours of work, often in dangerous conditions.

In what ways is your congregation working with people in your community to provide a safety net so that a snow day doesn't have to mean a no food or heat day for our vulnerable families?

In January 2011, I wrote a blog post about this. The question I ended the post with is on my mind this morning:

Are you part of a congregation or organization that provides basic services to people in need? What do you do when there’s a snowstorm, hurricane, or other type of storm? What’s your ‘back up plan’ if the volunteers can’t get there because of the weather? What arrangements are made to provide these vital services to people in need?

Please share your practices and bad weather policies in the comment section or post in the Your Turn section of this site.