October Mission Outreach Team Meeting

The Mission Outreach Team met on Thursday Oct. 7, 2021 at 6:30 pm.  

Members present: Joanne Blew, Katy Grenfell, Judy Greig, Nancy Koch, Cindy Mengel-Smith, and Beverly Moser.

The team packed 50 snack bags for the school snack bag program. The remaining inventory was reviewed. It was determined that applesauce and drinks will be needed for the November distribution. The team members will provide those items. Nancy will ask the congregation for a fresh fruit donation for the November distribution.  Based on the current inventory, there will not be enough snacks for the December distribution.  Nancy will ask the congregation for donations of pretzels or goldfish in addition to fresh fruit for December.

Correspondence

Thank-you notes were received from the following organizations:

CWC - $25 (residual blanket funds)

Family Promise - $50

Information was received from Heifer International regarding their programs.  Cindy will talk with Ken to determine if there is enough time to put together a fund-raising campaign for November.  If not, we will sponsor the Heifer campaign in January.

A letter was received from Carolyn Shultz Spano of Bethany Children’s Home thanking us for our desire to help the children at Bethany Home. Enclosed was the requested Christmas wish list for the children. She will be coming to Zion to share a Mission Moment on Sunday December 12^th. Promotion of the white gift program will begin on Sunday November 7^th. We plan to give Carolyn the white gifts as well as a check for the balance of our financial goal for Bethany Home on Dec. 12^th.

Old Business

The outdoor church service and pot luck picnic event appeared to go well. We received no complaints. Suggests for next year were 1) to have a bean bag game or other games available, and 2) to have music after the service. Nancy will provide a bean bag game for next year and the team will ask Brad if we can use his CD player to play music after the service.

It was noted that lemonade was not a popular drink choice and should be eliminated next year.

The team members thanked Bev and Ken for their efforts in organizing the NIN campaign. Since the campaign just ended this past Sunday, it is too early to know the results.

The team reviewed everyone’s responsibilities for the Chili Cook-off on Sunday Oct. 24^th after the 10:15 am church service. The team will meet in the dining room at 9:30 am to set up. Kathy Eckman placed the information on Zion’s facebook page. She asked if the team wants her to extend the information to other community facebook pages. It was decided to keep the event within the congregation due to the increase in Covid cases.

New Business

The Gathering Place in Weissport is in need of volunteers for their clothing distribution which is held the third Wednesday and second Saturday of each month.  If you are interested in helping, please be at the Gathering Place by 8:45am.

The Gathering Place also asked if we would help with their Mitten Tree program. We will place a tote in the vestibule for donations of NEW mittens, gloves, hats, and scarfs for adults and children.  This campaign will run at Zion from November through January. 

Distribution of Funds

The committee requests that the financial secretary distribute the following:

Big Brothers/Big Sisters - $250

Family Promise - $250

St. Peter’s Community Center - $250

Healthy Smiles - $250

The Mission Outreach team will meet on Thursday Nov. 11^th at 6:30 pm to pack the school snack bags. A meeting will be held at approximately 7 pm, after the bags are packed and inventory updated. 

These meetings are open to everyone at Zion. Please feel free to stop in to offer your ideas, help or support!