Summer camp for migrant children started, in part, with money from the Earley Outreach Fund.

The Earley Outreach Fund and Butterfly Shop

The Earley Outreach Fund at Church of the Redeemer supported a wide variety of outreach projects. The money to establish this fund came from the sale of the Butterfly Shop, a thrift shop operated by Redeemer in Bothell, Washington.

These are some of the programs supported by the Earley Outreach Fund at some point since 2009:

  • bE.kON Collective
  • Friends of Third Place Commons Farmers “Market Bucks”
  • Kairos Torch Prison Ministry
  • Northshore Adult Day Health
  • Page Ahead
  • Capitol Hill Community Resource Center
  • United Way Community Resource Exchange: Homeless Foot washing Project
  • Internship at Mosoj Yan in Bolivia
  • Northshore YMCA ESL Summer Program
  • Mission to Seafarers in Seattle
  • Rebuild the Churches Fund
  • Episcopal Jail Ministry at the King County Jail
  • Foundation for Academic Endeavors
The people of the Church of the Redeemer extend our heartfelt appreciation to all who established and sustained the Butterfly Thrift Shop during three decades of ministry. In gratitude to them, we pray that our hearts are always open to the new outreach opportunities that will be ours through the John and Gretchen Earley Butterfly Outreach Endowment Fund. September 2007.

Origin of the Earley Outreach Fund

The Earley Outreach Fund started from the sale of the former Butterfly Thrift Store building. The crowded-but-tidy shop sold used and consigned household goods and clothing in downtown Bothell, Washington. Volunteers from Church of the Redeemer staffed and operated the shop.

During more than two decades of operation, the Butterfly Shop distributed over $275,000 in small grants to local people with urgent needs for things like the following:

  • Paying the utility bill for families in danger of losing power.
  • Getting the last few dollars of someone’s rent together.
  • Paying for medical bills, gas, or bus vouchers.

The “Butterfly Ladies” helped over 2,500 people over rough spots.

An aging volunteer staff and an unsolicited offer to purchase the property in late 2007 led to the decision to close the Butterfly Shop and sell the property. Church of the Redeemer did not treat the $300,000 purchase price as a windfall. Instead, Redeemer’s parishioners placed the entire sum into a fund to continue to serve those in need.

This fund became known as the the Earley Outreach Fund. The name recognizes Gretchen and John Earley, leading lights of the Butterfly Shop for its entire existence.

Church of the Redeemer logo

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.