GOOD WORKS IN THE COMMUNITY                                          Home Page
 

It is not at all surprising to find a church involved in charitable works and community betterment, for charity and social responsibility are a logical extension of spiritual values. And that is particularly true of churches of Scientology, which are catalysts for positive change and rallying points for those who seek to improve conditions. Throughout the world, the Church and its members work daily to improve the lives of those in need in their communities.

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In cities on every continent, members of the Church donate thousands of hours in community work and provide assistance to a wide range of other goodwill and community groups and activities.

Churches of Scientology support and contribute to a variety of other established community programs such as the Red Cross, the March of Dimes, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and local community groups in cities the world over. This support ranges from broad participation in drug-free blood drives, to city-wide collection of holiday toys for needy children, to donations of food and clothing for under-privileged families. Every year, for example, Scientology churches around the United States are drop-off points for toys donated for the United States Marine Corps popular "Toys for Tots" campaign. Similar toy drives are held wherever there are Scientology churches and missions.

For years, the Church of Scientology in Portland, Oregon, has provided assistance to the Northeast Emergency Food Program, sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. In 1997, Portland’s Bureau of Buildings contacted the Church for help in caring for a low-income family it was evicting from a house that was no longer safe. By handling the safety violations the family could remain in their home. Therefore, using building supplies donated by the community, a group of Scientologists, along with members of the Portland Police Department, freely gave their time and labor to the project. When they had finished, the house exceeded every local building standard and the residents were able to remain.

In Orange County, California, Scientologists helped form a local chapter of the "Food for All" program with Lutheran Social Services and Presbyterian and Catholic groups in the area which provides food for the homeless.

In Los Angeles, a murals project sponsored by the Church’s Community Outreach Group and Visual Artists Association has created scores of large murals at Family Courts and related facilities, helping to uplift the spirits of abused and neglected children throughout Los Angeles County. The Community Outreach Group has received city, county and state recognition for its work and was named the community group of the year in Los Angeles. Church volunteers in Los Angeles have also worked for many years with the Red Cross on a variety of projects ranging from community blood drives to disaster relief.

The Church of Scientology of St. Louis carries out a successful education program aimed at steering children clear of crime.

In Arizona, church volunteers participated in a telethon pledge drive to support public television, raising $25,000 in a few hours more than double the target set by the local public television station for that time period.

Volunteerism in Europe

Churches of Scientology throughout Europe sponsor a variety of charity programs that service the community.

In Spain, volunteers for the Church of Scientology have been recognized by the Red Cross for their work in bettering the community. In Germany, for example, Church volunteers provide musical entertainment for the elderly at old-age homes, and during the winter they give warm clothing, food and hot drinks to the homeless in Hanover, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf.

Volunteers in France also regularly distribute food and clothing to those in need, while in nearby Belgium, local Scientologists supported an annual 24-hour bicycle race, raising funds for cancer research. During the Christmas season, churches throughout Europe distribute food and gifts to the less fortunate.

In Amsterdam, a local Scientologist runs a shelter for former drug-addicts and homeless people. In addition to providing them a temporary place to live, he also uses the Way to Happiness to help these homeless people take charge of their lives.

Providing Help in the Commonwealth

For the last six years, the UK Church of Scientology has hosted an annual Charity Concert with international celebrity musicians performing to benefit various local and national charities.  Scientologists in countries throughout the Commonwealth are also active in helping others in times of need.

In South Africa, Church volunteers visit prisons where they conduct seminars to show inmates how to live honest and more fulfilling lives.

In Australia, the Church of Scientology of Sydney works hand in hand with the Salvation Army and other local charities to participate in drives to collect food, clothes and toys for children who cannot afford them. They also provide musical entertainment for the elderly through children’s choir performances and other charity events. In 1998, volunteer Scientologists in Sydney established a soup kitchen for homeless young people. This program has received support from local shop keepers who have donated food to the project.

In Auckland, New Zealand, Church volunteers run a literacy programme for youth at risk. The goal of the programme is to assist young people who are unemployed or involved with drugs and crime to learn to read. Many who have done the programme have expressed an interest in returning to school to complete their education, while others have found jobs and become productive members of the community.

At Saint Hill in Sussex, site of the Church of Scientology’s headquarters in the United Kingdom, Scientologists hold annual fétes attended by some 2,000 people each year, to support charity organizations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and the Youth Trust, a national organization working to keep children off drugs. British Scientologists also support the community activities of many other groups and organizations.
These Charity Concerts provide the community with a chance to experience world-class entertainment while donating to important local causes.

One group participates every year in an annual fund-raising event which supports a national society’s Teenage Cancer Trust. Another group took part in a 1997 cycling marathon to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. In June 2002, the Church hosted a special ball to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee Anniversary.

Church volunteers also support amateur athletic events by caring for participants who may be physically exhausted or in physical pain, such as providing assists when asked, such as the help provided to runners at the Marathons and other long-distance races held in Portland, Oregon; Boston, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California, and Clearwater, Florida.

Good Cheer for the Holidays

Honoring a long tradition of helping the needy, and particularly children, over the Christmas holidays, Scientologists help spread Christmas goodwill in cities all over the world. From California to New York, Scientologists in the United States collect food and gifts to cheer the holidays of those in need.

Every year for the past ten years, the Church of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre International has sponsored an annual fund-raising event for the Los Angeles Police Activities League at Christmas. Entitled Christmas Stories, the event is a variety show put on by celebrity Scientologists and other entertainers. It has raised more than $120,000 for the Los Angeles Police Activities League, over the last 10 years.

Such contributions have earned numerous recognitions. In 1996, the director of the Los Angeles Outreach Program was commended by (at the time) President Bill Clinton for services rendered to foster children. The Program Director organized volunteer Scientologists who contributed more than 60,000 hours of work to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. The commendation stated in part: "You have worked with energy and dedication to provide solutions to the many problems that government alone cannot fix. With your active involvement, you have brought hope and help to countless people in need. . . . Your work is going a long way toward healing and renewing your community, inspiring all who seek to improve our world."

The Church has also sponsored the popular "Winter Wonderland" in Hollywood, complete with the film capital’s largest Christmas tree and snow by the ton. Santa lights the tree during the annual Christmas parade and the setting plays host to thousands of children and their parents. "Winter Wonderland" is also a yearly feature in Clearwater, Florida, where Scientologists construct a Swiss Alpine village, complete with Santa Claus, skating, train and pony rides, a petting zoo, snowmen and a special Santa’s Workshop. More than 30,000 children and their parents visit during the holiday season. Those who come to enjoy the festivities are encouraged to donate canned goods, clothing and toys which are then distributed to needy families in time for the holidays.

The Women’s Auxiliary of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater provides hundreds of Christmas presents to underprivileged children in cooperation with the local Marine Corps Reserve. The Women’s Auxiliary has also provided gifts for the children of Florida migrant workers.

Each year, Scientologists organize a toy drive and party for Clearwater’s foster children. One such party in 1995 resulted in a unique project among the 250 foster children who attended, to bring attention to the plight of abused and neglected children everywhere. The children each traced their individual handprints onto one of a multitude of brilliantly colored and patterned fabrics, wrote their names on the cloth hand and placed it on a 121-square-foot black velvet tapestry. The "Hands of Hope" Quilt project culminated with a visit in 1996 to Washington, DC, where the children and their parents received a warm welcome from the then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the East Room of the White House.

Canadian Charity

Scientologists in Ottawa and Montreal team up with local law enforcement officers and firefighters for annual toy drives and caroling for underprivileged youth and residents of care centers. Year-round, Canadian church members also greet and care for arriving immigrants and refugees and their families around the clock as necessary. The Church of Scientology of British Columbia was acknowledged with a certificate of appreciation for "generous contribution" from the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia for helping newly arrived refugee families.

In Montreal, the Church is an active fund-raiser, joining forces with the Canadian National Hockey Team for various charities. Scientologists in Montreal have supported the Cerebral Palsy Association, led by a Scientologist who has served as vice-president of the association’s fund-raising committee.

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