Food bazaar helps Korean church’s ministry
WATERVLIET, N.Y. >> Members of the Albany Sarang Fellowship Church will host their sixth annual community food bazaar and garage sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the church at 410 23rd St.
Organizers said guests will be able to purchase a plate of food for $8 while they browse the variety of items available at the garage sale.
“We prepare some of our traditional, barbecue- style Korean dishes, noodles and a lot of other traditional Korean dishes,” said Eunice Han, a member of the Methodist church. “We want to invite our neighbors, and anybody can come try some Korean food and get to know each other.”
The church raises money from this event annually to fund its ministry and allow its youth group to travel to foreign countries
“We usually donate all the proceeds from this event to help our missionary working with Haitian refugees, and, every year, we also send our youth group and our peace group to the Dominican Republic,” explained Han.
First organized in 2009, the church purchased the former Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church from the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese in 2010 after it was closed by the diocese as part of a host of closings and consolidations that began in 2008. In 2011, the church bought the former Our Lady of Mount Carmel School to house a Korean school.
“We try to let other people know and let our neighbors know that here’s a Korean church in our community and try to share the culture and gospel,” said the church’s pastor, the Rev. Michael Park.
Church members said they host events like the bazaar not only to raise money for their work, however, but also to become more involved in the local community.
“We don’t do this just for the money,” said Han. “We want to be able to build valuable relationships and get more involved in our community while supporting our mission.”
For more information on the church, visit www.albanysarang.net, call 271-1492 of email reophard@hanmail.net.