By Susan Cooper, Kansas Area Communications associate director
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Heritage United Methodist Church, the Overland Park congregation participated in a program dubbed “25 Ways of Giving and Serving.”
The actual anniversary date was Oct. 16, but the program began in July and is concluding in January.
“The 25th Anniversary Team asked me to come up with a project that the church could support in celebration of the anniversary,” said church member Cindy Svec.
Some of the 25 projects actually are part of ongoing mission work by the church, but it was an opportunity to highlight the work to the congregation in honor of the special anniversary.
“We wanted to increase awareness of our missions, not just find new projects for the anniversary celebration,” she said.
The program has given the members opportunities to give financial donations, spend time serving and donate needed items to the 25 mission projects.
The 25 Ways of Giving and Serving:
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1 |
More than 400 school supplies were donated and given to an assistance program for at-risk families, Cross-lines Community Outreach. |
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2 and 3 |
Members donated food items for lunches, and a group of them prepared more than 125 sandwiches and lunches, which were delivered to Cross-lines for their Hunger Relief Program. |
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4 |
Youth and adults travelled to Joplin, Mo., to help with the tornado recovery process through debris clean-up, reconstruction, serving and preparing meals, sorting donations and other tasks. |
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5 |
Members participated in a walk/run in honoring the lives of people affected by brain cancer. |
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6 |
The Missions Team collected monetary donations to purchase food to restock the Hope Chest Food Pantry at Valley View UMC in Overland Park. |
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7 |
Members served lunches at the Restart Homeless Shelter, an interfaith ministry in Kansas City. |
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8, 9 and 10 |
Members unloaded shipments of pumpkins and set up the church’s pumpkin patch, the proceeds of which support the church’s mission programs. |
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11 |
UMW members collected items for birthday grab bags that were delivered to Kids TLC in Olathe, which serves children in crisis. |
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12 and 13 |
New and gently used coats, hats, gloves, socks and other items were collected and given to the Cross-lines Christmas Store. |
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14 |
Food was collected for the Valley View UMC’s Hope Chest Food Pantry. |
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15, 16 and 17 |
The Missions Team prepared lunches for Cross-lines, and church members assembled sack lunches. Children in the congregation made notes that were included in the sack lunches given to Cross-lines, which distributed the lunches to the “working poor.” |
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18 |
Members cooked and served a meal at the Ronald McDonald Family Dining Room for family members with children in Children’s Mercy Hospital. |
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19 |
Children in the congregation decorated placemats for the Restart Homeless Shelter to be used when lunch is served at the shelter. |
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20 |
Members selected Christmas angels and turkeys and donated designated items for the Cross-lines Christmas Store. Each angel represented a specific toy or clothing item needed for an estimated age, and each turkey represented a specific food item. |
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21 |
Members volunteered to be personal shopping assistants for the Cross-lines Christmas Store. |
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22 |
Members assisted clients, restocked items and performed other work at the Johnson County Christmas Bureau, a United Way safety-net agency. |
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23 |
Food items were donated and lunches were served by Heritage UMC members at the Restart Homeless Shelter. |
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24 |
Hygiene items are being collected by church members and given to Cross-lines during January. |
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25 |
Also in January, the Missions Team will collect food items and prepare sack lunches for Cross-lines Hunger Relief Program. |
The church’s pastor, Rev. Russell Brown, said it was pleasing to see an overall increase in people not only being aware of ways to serve but actually coming forward and being engaged in things they had not previously done.
“It was a really creative way to turn our celebration outward instead of focusing on our selves,” Brown said.
