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Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana Feeding Program (PIPH)

Last Christmas, we asked for an offering during worship on December 19, as well as during all three Christmas Eve Services. The offering raised more than $20,000 for PIPH.

Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana (PIPH-Hispanic Presbyterian Church) serves the Spanish-speaking community in East Oakland.

Their 140 members come from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Argentina and Colombia. They are known as a transitory immigrant church. Somehow, new immigrants know to find their way to PIPH and once they find their feet after 6 months or longer, they settle more permanently somewhere else. Their membership changes constantly.

The Covid Pandemic has hit these families very hard. Many families have lost their jobs and many are not eligible, or not able, to collect unemployment or other public assistance. Many of these families live in housing situations that are very crowded and are food insecure. They totally depend on PIPH for food. PIPH gets food from the Food Bank, mainly vegetables, fruits and some beans and occasionally some milk and eggs.

PIPH also used to supplement the Food Bank provisions with additional staples, spending about $1,500 a month to buy cooking oil, grains, black beans, tortilla flour, sugar, meat, eggs and milk, for about 150 families from their church as well as the community. In addition, PIPH used to have an emergency fund that gives out a one time $300 cash to needy church members who need help for rent, utilities and covid funerals.

Since the Pandemic, funds for the PIPH food supplementary program have run low. The church emergency fund has also been depleted.

PIPH hope that with the Piedmont Church Christmas Offering, they can continue their food supplementary program and replenish their emergency fund for their church members and the community.

PIPH is very grateful to our church for all the donations that our members have contributed to their church in the past.