The Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op, a local Missions Ministry supported by Duluth First United Methodist Church, will be moving to it’s new location at 3649 Rogers Bridge Road in Duluth very soon. In order to get ready for the upcoming move to their new home, volunteers are needed this week to help them pack.

They will be packing the food and personal care items on Thursday, April 18th, and Friday, April 19th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days at their current location at 3395 Fox Street in Duluth.

If you have some free time and would be willing to help out, please contact Tracy Brinker at the church by e-mail at tbrinker@duluthumc.org or call 770-476-3776. Thank you for your help and support – it is greatly appreciated!

The Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op invites you to join them for a fun night of food, music, and community to celebrate and support our neighbors at the “A Night for Our Neighbors” Gala Event on Friday, April 19th. The event will be from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Payne-Corley House, located at 2987 Main St, Duluth. The cost is $75 person, and reservations are made online by clicking on A NIGHT FOR OUR NEIGHBORS.

With the assistance of Duluth First United Methodist Church and its members, Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op has helped to supply food, emergency assistance and hope to those in need for over 30 years. Please come celebrate this amazing accomplishment! Come celebrate this amazing milestone at our 30th anniversary semi-formal gala as we continue to support our neighbors in need.

You are invited to participate in the 2024 Operation: Taste of Home, the Hugs for Soldiers Ministry’s 21st annual “Gift of Caring: Cookies for Soldiers” Collection Drive. Girl Scout cookies, a great symbol of America, continue to be one of the most requested items by our soldiers. The Hugs for Soldiers Ministry is collecting donations of Girl Scout Cookies for our military men and women. Show your support for our soldiers and your local Girl Scouts by purchasing an extra box or two of cookies.

This is a wonderful community service project for our Girl Scouts, along with their families, friends, and neighbors, to support our soldiers. Deployed soldiers are in stressful situations, but when they receive a box of cookies from home, it sends a message to the troops that America is thinking of them and their safe return.
 
You may drop off your cookies in the collection box located inside the back entrance to the Sheldon Family Life Center. Cookies can be donated through the end of April. You can also attach a personal message to your donated boxes - 2” x 4” mailing labels work best.

Thank you for helping us put a smile on a service member’s face! If you have any questions, please contact Angie Doerlich by e-mail at hugsforsoldiers@gmail.com.

Registration is now open for our Youth Ministry summer mission trip! We’ll be partnering with The Gainesville Aid Project (GAP) from Wednesday, June 5th through Sunday, June 9th. This is a mission opportunity where students and adult leaders will be in service for those in need of home repairs, wheelchair ramps, lawn care help, etc. There will also be group activities, games, and worship in the evenings. For more information or to register, please visit our youth ministry’s website: https://dfumcstudents.org/mission-trip.

We will need some adult volunteers to accompany us on this trip. If you are interested or would like to serve as a chaperone/driver on this mission trip, please contact Min Lee, Director of Youth Ministries, by e-mail at mlee@duluthumc.org. 

The Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op is in need of new or gently used books for children and young adults. These books are given out to their clients at no cost. We will be collecting books through the end of the month of May. If you would like to donate books, a collection bin will be located on the stage in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall. Thank you for your support.

Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op is a local missions ministry, supported and grown over many years by the volunteer time and donations of the congregation of Duluth First United Methodist Church, who helped found it in 1991. As the Duluth Co-Op said goodbye to 2023, they looked backed at some of their accomplishments for the year, thankful for the incredible support of many friends, churches, and businesses.

The following numbers show the impact the Duluth Co-Op had on our local community in 2023:

• $776,338 – value of goods distributed (21% increase over 2022);
• 19,995 people were fed (30% increase over 2022);
• 289, 332 pounds of food distributed (16% increase over 2022);
• 1,564 families were served through food, financial aid, holiday programs, and 1-on-1 assistance programs (13% increase over 2022);
• 815 new clients were served (18% increase over 2022);
• $233,218 – financial aid provided (30% increase over 2022);
• 2,038 – total number of clothing/furniture referrals, Lyft rides, and holiday programs (9% increase over 2022).
• Of particular note, the Duluth Co-Op fed almost 20,000 people in 2023, which is a 6-fold increase in the last 6 years!

2024 will be a year of celebration for the Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op by recognizing their 30th anniversary as a ministry. They will move in their new home (see the picture) at 3649 Rogers Bridge Road in Duluth in February, and are currently waiting for the parking lot to be paved. They will be celebrating with all of their friends at an open house in March.

Our church is doing more good helping more people now in 2024 than ever before. You may ask yourself how you can support the Duluth Co-op. You can:

• Be a volunteer! March is Duluth First UMC’s month to provide volunteer help at the Duluth Co-Op. You can volunteer on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to noon, noon to 2:00 p.m., or all day. You can also volunteer any other time of the year.  To schedule a date and time to serve, please contact Ramona Ricks by e-mail at ramonaricks@att.net.
• Bring food donations with you when you come to Wednesday Night Dinners or participate in any of the other Wednesday night programs at Duluth First UMC. Specific food donation items are posted in the Wednesday Night Food Drives article located below. Items can be left at the collection table located outside of the main entrance to Hinton Hall, located on the 2nd floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center.

Thank you for helping the Hands of Christ Duluth Co-Op shape their mission to prevent hunger and homelessness in our community. By providing food, financial aid, and hope to those in crisis, the Duluth Co-Op served the most families in their history – even more so than during 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

May peace, hope and happiness be yours now, and throughout 2024!

The Wednesday Night Food Drive at Duluth First UMC for the Hands of Christ Duluth Co-op is our weekly mission project, combined with the many Wednesday evening activities offered at the church. Wednesday Night Food Drives will resume in August.

Join us for a delicious dinner and fellowship in Hinton Hall, pick up a to-go dinner for your family, join us for any of our Wednesday evening activities, and drop off food items to help other families in need. We thank you for your support.

A growing number of school children in our community rely on free and reduced priced meals at school for their main daily meals.  However, there may not be enough food to go around over the weekend.  The goal of the Happy Sacks mission outreach program is to provide healthy snacks for school children over the weekend.  We pack approximately 150 Happy Sacks each week, which are then delivered to the schools on Friday, and given out by the school counselors to the appropriate children.

The need continues to grow as does the cost of filling the bags. The Happy Sacks program is not a part of the church’s regular budget, so we depend on your donations. Please consider picking up a few extra items listed below the next time you are at the grocery store, or make a financial donation to support the Happy Sacks ministry.

You can help us fill these Happy Sacks by contributing the following items:

• Cheese or peanut butter crackers
• 100% fruit juice boxes (not Capri Sun)
• Non-perishable milk boxes (white milk only)
• Fruit cups
• Applesauce cups
• Dried fruit (individual servings)
• Fruit-filled breakfast bars (Nutri-grain brand)
• Granola bars (Nature Valley Honey & Oat)
• Goldfish, Cheez-its, Combos, pretzels (individual serving bags)
• Fruit roll-ups

PLEASE, NO CHOCOLATE INGREDIENTS, and all items should be name brands and within expiration dates. Happy Sacks collection bins can be found in the Dorothy L. Rainey Fellowship Hall and by the rear portico doors of the Sheldon Family Life Center.

If you would like more information, or you would like to volunteer to help pack or deliver sacks, please contact Debbie Johnson by e-mail at dljohnson8957@gmail.com.

Duluth High School Care Team provides essential items for homeless high school students attending Duluth High School. Our church supports them with gift cards, personal items like shampoo, deodorant and soap that are not often available for the students in the temporary living locations.

Duluth First UMC was one of the founding members of Hands of Christ, a Duluth Cooperative Ministry created more than 20 years ago to help with food insufficiency in the 30096 and 30097 zip codes. In order to be a supporting member and hold a voting seat on the board, a church is required to donate food, complete 50 annual service hours, and contribute $1,200 per year.

How can you help with this ministry?

• Help with the 50-hour service requirement. March is our church’s month to volunteer to work at the Hands of Christ. Volunteers stock pantry shelves, divide bulk food items into smaller packages, and fill orders. An experienced “captain” for the day guides you. Choose to work a 2-hour shift from 10 a.m. to noon, or noon to 2 p.m. on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday in March. To volunteer please contact Ramona Ricks by e-mail at ramonaricks@att.net.
• Help with food donation by donating food at our Wednesday Night Drive-Thru Dinners or take items directly to the Duluth Co-op on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 10 a.m. to noon. Items needed are listed on their website www.duluthco-op.org.
• Help with funding by donating funds to the Hands of Christ by sending a check to Duluth First UMC with Hands of Christ in the memo section, or directly to the Duluth Cooperative Ministry through their website at www.duluthco-op.org.
• Volunteer your time to help the Hands of Christ board with raising community awareness, fundraising, legal advice when needed, as well as ongoing technology assistance.

Rainbow Village provides transitional housing for families with children while also adding programming to focus on family stability, well-being, financial management, education and training. The program also offers career and employment assistance for the resident.

Click on VIRTUAL TOUR take a virtual tour of the Rainbow Village campus.

Family Promise of Gwinnett County program offers temporary housing for the homeless in Gwinnett county. A circle of churches supports the effort by providing a place each week for up to four families to live. The church provides meals and social time each evening.

Good Samaritan Health Centers of Gwinnett demonstrate the love of Christ by providing quality and affordable healthcare and dental services to residents of Gwinnett County. It is designed to serve the poor and uninsured to make certain they have access to healthcare when needed.

Friends of Refugees is located in the Clarkston area to support the community of diverse refugees that arrive in the Atlanta Area. They support new arrivals with finding homes and jobs along with understanding new customs and living in the United States. Many of them have escaped from very dangerous conditions and find a place of peace and hope here.

Wellroot Family Services (formerly called The United Methodist Children’s Home) is a United Methodist Church agency that helps to provide a safe loving environment for children and young adults in the foster care system. They assist in locating foster parents, providing transitional and independent living and family housing for homelessness with a safety net of skills to attain self-sufficiency.

Sheltering Arms is a daycare in Gwinnett county providing excellent childcare for lower income families. We support them with funds, gifts for the children at Christmas and other outreach like diaper drives.

As the humanitarian relief and development arm of The United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) provides humanitarian relief and disaster response in the United States and internationally. UMCOR has been onsite of locations recently affected by Hurricane Ian. UMCOR comes alongside those who suffer from natural or human-caused disasters – be it famine, hurricane, war, flood, fire or other events—to alleviate suffering and to be a source of help and hope for those left most vulnerable.

UMCOR’s efforts are targeted in places where natural disasters, war, or conflict have done so much damage that communities are unable to recover on their own. In addition, UMCOR helps communities in the United States and abroad prepare for emergencies and to reduce the risk of disasters through a roster of training programs.

UMCOR is also involved in global development work. Specific programs address issues of health, sanitation, poverty, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and food security. Many development problems are interrelated, so UMCOR uses integrated solutions to address their root causes. UMCOR seeks to empower local hospitals, schools, churches, and other stakeholders by enhancing their capacity to address these issues.

100% of your donation goes directly to UMCOR! The proceeds from our recent Ministry of Music & Worship Arts “Oh Happy Day” Concerts went to UMCOR. For more information about UMCOR or to make an online donation, please click on UMCOR.

Seneca Street United Methodist Church is located in Buffalo, NY.  We have supported this church since 2005 with a variety of means to help the children of the Seneca-Babcock neighborhood.  An adult mission team travels there during the summer to help with the first week of reading camp that includes providing book bags for each child filled with school supplies.  Additionally, a youth team travels to lead vacation Bible school and in the fall the church raises funds to help with heating bills through the Bundle Up for Buffalo craft fair.

The Reverend Charlene Kay Fuino Foundation Elementary School in Liberia offers an education to children in the Kpelle Town community. The school, part of the United Methodist Church and was begun as a project with their pastor Sam Sumo Gaywen with Rev. C. Kay Fuino, typically educates about 60 children in pre-school through sixth grade. Since it’s beginning we have provided funds to purchase land, build the school, pay the teachers, and feed the children during the pandemic.

If you would like to give to this online, click on ONLINE GIVING and select MISCELLANEOUS GIVING from the online giving options.