Join Us in Serving Others This Fall
As you probably remember, fall and early winter are our busiest times of year. You will see evidence of this through the various outreach programs and ministries that traditionally take place at this time of year. We will do our best to keep everyone informed about all the ways you can help and get involved with our church family, and support these projects. Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree, collection for Thanksgiving baskets, and others supporting veterans and families will begin soon. If you're interested in getting involved and helping with these endeavors, please let us know! We would love to have your help! Contact DJ Mahar for more information and where you might like to get involved!
Thursday Night Dinner News
Thursdays | 5:00 PM | First UMC, 8210 Buffalo Ave., Niagara Falls
Contact: DJ Mahar
Hope you had a great summer! It’s getting a bit cooler now, and we at the Thursday Night Dinner are gearing up for the season with some delicious menu ideas for our guests.
We are always looking for certain food items that you may be able to supply: brownie mix, yellow and chocolate cake mix, eggs, cooking spray, butter, elbow pasta, spaghetti sauce, and sugar. We cook for approximately 250 folks every week, so as you can imagine, we go through a lot of supplies fast! Just bring your donations in and leave them in the food collection area by the ramp in the Fellowship Hall, and we will take it from there!
If you would rather make a financial donation of any size, we certainly can use it for items needed, and because we buy in bulk and have a tax-exempt status, we can make those donations go far! Give at church or online at pcumc.org/give.
We are always looking for new faces to come help prepare and serve these wonderful meals, so if that’s something you might like to try, let me know! Contact DJ Mahar for more information!
S.E.R.V. Niagara
Contact: Sue Wilson
Before veterans in need can fully benefit from programs, skills training, or any other services, they need to have basic needs of food, personal care items, clothing, and shelter. S.E.R.V. Niagara provides support for addiction, veteran families, mental health, PTSD, transportation, combat-related injuries, and unemployment.
Please help us collect basic needs such as: NEW socks, underwear, t-shirts, athletic shorts, sweatshirts, and pants for both men and women. Sizes range from medium to 2X. Also, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving cream, soap or body wash, feminine products, crossword puzzles, word search books, decks of cards, and dice. Please place items in the labeled set of drawers in Mission Central.
Every day is Veterans Day - please help us make a difference! May the Lord bless our vets and you for donating.
Warm Blanket Collection
We will be collecting new or gently used blankets to give to folks we serve meals to with Feeding Hope. That means a goal of 150. What better way to warm a heart than with a warm meal and a warm blanket? Please label and drop off in Mission Central.
Family Promise of WNY
A homeless shelter for families
We donated two $35 bags of groceries this month. This helped out the unhoused families staying at Family Promise while getting back on their feet. We helped 7 adults, 19 children, and 1 infant. We provided fresh fruit, milk, eggs, string cheese, and go-gurt. Notice, it is always healthy foods.
They send us a list a few days before our signup date. It isn’t possible to collect items that fast, so by donating money to purchase the items, we get them to the people who need them. We even had a couple of packages of diapers to provide for the infant. Please consider donating funds to provide these needed groceries. Flag your donation to Feeding Hope.
PB&J Drive - Help Fill the Pantry
Our church family continues to make a difference in our community! We are still collecting peanut butter and jelly to help keep local food pantries stocked for families in need. You’ll find the blue collection bin in the Fellowship Hall. Every jar makes an impact, and together we can ensure no neighbor goes without.
Operation Christmas Child
Contact: DJ Mahar
Operation Christmas Child is kicking off in mid-October, and we are in need of help to make this incredible ministry come together! We would love to have a few folks who would be willing to take on coordinating this month-long campaign. It starts out by handing out brochures and a small display for information and blossoms into a full-scale event with the final week seeing hundreds of shoeboxes coming in. We need folks to greet people and accept boxes, do accurate counts, bring them into the sanctuary, and finally help pack them into cartons to go to their next destination. Whew! There are also some other ways to get involved with the details of this mission. If you want more information and want to be on our team, contact DJ!