FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOCUS Minnesota Celebrates Its New Residence
Minneapolis, MN (July 30, 2010) – FOCUS Minnesota, an Eastern Orthodox non-profit dedicated to serving the poor, will be celebrating its new home on Saturday, August 14.
The celebration will come one month after FOCUS Minnesota moved in to the building at1600 E. Lake St. in Minneapolis, right on the border of the Phillips and Powderhorn neighborhoods. An Orthodox liturgy will begin at 9:30, followed by an open house and a free meal starting around 11:30.
The meal will be the second that FOCUS Minnesota has served at its new site and the third since it began operations in the Twin Cities in June. Director Vera Proctor expects more meals, along with other services to the poor, to follow in the coming months. “The new space allows us to do a number of things to help our neighbors,” she says. “We are now in the process of meeting our neighbors, connecting with other ministries in the area, and figuring out how we can best use our resources to help those in need.”
Proctor sees the liturgy, the open house, and the free meal as emblematic of FOCUS Minnesota’s ministry. “We welcome all to join us to see what we are currently planning and to help us chart our future course. We are Orthodox Christians, and everything we do is rooted in prayer and worship. We want to give freely and abundantly to help those who need it most.”
Proctor emphasizes that FOCUS Minnesota is not tied to any particular Orthodox parish or jurisdiction. The liturgy on August 14thwill be celebrated by priests and deacons from several parishes around the Twin Cities, and volunteers from over ten parishes will help serve the meal afterward. “Like the previous two meals that FOCUS Minnesota has served,” Proctor says, “this open house will be a witness to what Orthodox Christians can accomplish as a community.”
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FOCUS North America and its programs are committed to serve those in need, support Orthodox Christian social action ministries and supply parishes and others with the education, resources and training to initiate social action ministries in their own communities. In all of this, it continues in the work of Restoring Living Icons. FOCUS North America is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. For more information, visit focusnorthamerica.org.
