GRACE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (UCC)
Serving Justice, Loving Kindness
A United Church of Christ Congregation in Flemington, NJ
Pennies and Nickels:
One of the mission projects at Grace UCC (Flemington, NJ) is our Pennies and Nickels program. Members and friends bring their loose change to church on Sunday mornings and place it in the silver Change Bowl. Below are the items we have been able to buy, through organizations such as Church World Service (CWS), Kiva, Smile Train, International Aid/ HydrAid, Heifer International, Amity Foundation, and Feeding Amercia via this simple program- one by which we are turning some of our smaller possessions into larger ones for those in need…
Kiva Loans
Feeding America
During this Thanksgiving season (November, 2011) Grace UCC, per the children's choice, was able to make a donation to Feeding America which amounted to the provision of 7,200 meals! Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Their mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger (of which NORWESCAP is a member who, in turn, supplies the Flemington Food Pantry with assistance). Each year, the Feeding America network provides food to more than 37 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including 14 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
Their/ our network of more than 200 food banks serves all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, securing and distributing more than 2.5 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually. Those member food banks support approximately 61,000 local charitable agencies and 70,000 programs, which provide food directly to individuals and families in need.
Every dollar you donate to Feeding America helps provide 7 meals to men, women and children facing hunger in our country. As mentioned, we at Grace UCC did just that...with just those pennies and nickels 7,200 (we donated 1,050 meals in 2010) were provided! What a great way to give thanks this season...thank you!
Bringing Warmth, Building Hope- Blankets
Under a big blue tent, more than 100 children, ages six to fourteen to 14, are seated in small groups paying close attention to their teachers. Surrounded by ruined buildings, these Haitian children, who lost homes
and family members during the earthquake, are continuing their education with the help of the
CWS-supported House of Hope program. The tent also serves as a dormitory for the children and
their families. Church World Service Blankets have brought welcome warmth during the cool evenings.
Church World Service was able to rush blankets and CWS Kits to the people of Haiti within
the first 24 hours thanks to pre-positioned supplies in neighboring Dominican Republic. Medical supplies, food, water and tents have also been provided as part of the CWS and ACT Alliance combined
effort. Your support helps make that kind of swift response possible. Contributions to Blankets+ mean
Church World Service will be in Haiti for the long haul, as families recover from this tragedy. And we will be ready to help families in other parts of the world to recover from disasters and build viable, sustainable lives and communities. Click here for more from Church World Service and their Blankets + Program.
Here at Grace UCC, in September of 2010, we were able to purchase 25 blankets for those in need! And, we did it with those pennies and nickels...
Operation OF
Every year, 536,000 women die in childbirth. This staggering number pales in comparison to more than 10 million whose lives are destroyed from devastating childbirth-related injuries. When limited access to emergency obstetric care collides with obstructed labor, the results are catastrophic. One such catastrophe is obstetric fistula. Obstetric fistula is a hole in the birth canal caused by days of unsuccessful labor. Prolonged obstructed labor cuts off the blood supply to the tissue planes that separate the urinary tract and rectum from the vagina. The woman is almost always left with a stillborn baby and unrelenting incontinence of urine or stool. This has dramatic negative social consequences, usually resulting in complete rejection from family and community. A simple surgery can normally repair the injury, with success rates as high as 90%. However, very few women know that their condition is treatable and if the do know, they cannot afford to get to surgery. While limited treatment capacity exists, there is virtually no focus on helping these women reintegrate into their communities. This is where Operation OF comes in. We empower local people to go deep into the most remote rural villages and find women suffering in silence. Once we find these women, we get them to treatment that includes surgery and psychological counseling. While the women wait either before or after surgery, our local social workers offer skills-based entrepreneurial training. After training, we take the woman back and insert her into a local economic development group that we offer microcredit support. The group gets attractive financing, the fistula survivor has a social support network and a path to empowerment.
Help us help the world’s most marginalized people. Here at Grace UCC we did just that- on August 2010 we were able to give a one time donation of $100.00 for this great cause. And, we did so with those pennies and nickels. Thanks! Dan
Feeding America
Millions of American children rely on school lunch programs. When school’s out, they have no dependable source of food. You can help feed a child all summer long...and we at Grace UCC did just that...with just those pennies and nickels five children are now (summer of 2010) receiving needed food...thank you!
Pair of Pigs
In a Church World Service (CWS)-supported animal-sharing program, a piglet is given to a family to raise with the understanding that when the pig gives birth, a piglet from the litter will be given to another family to repeat the cycle.
The families feed the animals, clean the pigs and pens, and monitor the animal’s progress. By raising pigs a family can also raise their nutritional level and quality of life.
Here at Grace UCC (March, 2010) we were able to do just that- obtain a pair of pigs. So as some of us (we do have vegetarians and others who don't eat pork products in our midst) share a ham for Easter we can also be mindful of how our pennies and nickels have helped others share their hams.
Earthquake
Assist the survivors of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. Your gift will help the people affected by this disaster as Church World Service works to provide life-saving supplies now and essential assistance as they rebuild. Here at Grace UCC, we did just that (01-13-2010) with our pennies and nickels- $200.00...we will give more.
Contributions to support our life-saving work may also be made by phone (800-297-1516) or sent to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.
Basic Grains
After months of drought, families struggle to feed their children and themselves. Where grain is the community’s food staple, hunger can be averted until the rains return, and the fields pour forth with new crops.
A two-month supply of staple grain for a family costs only $30. Here at Grace UCC, the week before Thanksgiving of 2009, we were able to purchase, six months worth of grain for families struggling to eat. We were able to do so with those pennies and nickels, dimes and quarters Thanks to all who bring their change to Grace UCC on Sunday mornings- with your giving others are given hope and help.
Goats
In memory of Allan Staats Meyners: Per request of a sister church, Christ Congregation in Princeton (where Allan's mother and step-father have attended for years; where Allan would bring his goats for the live nativity scenes; and where her members have been financial and spiritual supporters of Grace UCC), we are pleased and honored to obtain one goat in memory of Allan through our pennies and nickels program here at Grace UCC...see below...and in memory of Allan Staats Meyners who loved to raise goats.)
Goats Are Great for Families:
The gift of a dairy goat represents a lasting, meaningful way for you to help a little boy or girl on the other side of the world.
Goats can thrive in extreme climates and on poor, dry land by eating grass and leaves. The gift of a dairy goat can supply a family with up to several quarts of nutritious milk a day - a ton of milk a year. Extra milk can be sold or used to make cheese, butter or yogurt. Families learn to use goat manure to fertilize gardens.
Goats often have two or three kids a year making it easy for Heifer recipients to pass on the gift of a goat to another family in need. This great investment allows our partners to lift themselves out of poverty by starting small dairies that earn money for food, health care and education.
"With all the money donated to help fight famine around the world, with all the grandiose plans conceived to conquer poverty, sometimes all it takes to save a child is a goat."
— 60 Minutes, CBS News Magazine Program
Feeding America
More than 18 million American children rely on school lunch programs. When school’s out, they have no dependable source of food. You can help feed a child all summer long...and we at Grace UCC did just that...with just those pennies and nickels a child is now (summer of 2009) receiving needed food...thank you!
Clean Water
As hard as it may be to believe, over 1 BILLION people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water. This clean water crisis causes the death of more than 10 million people per year- HALF
of whom are children who lack the immune system to fight off waterborne diseases. Our revolutionary product, HydrAid™ — formerly Plastic BioSand Water Filter™ — can strain out 85-99% of bacteria and 100% of parasites for only $32. International Aid will distribute over 300,000 of these water filters. You can give a family a lifetime of clean water by purchasing a HydrAid™ BioSand water filter today! (Watch the moving YouTube below.) Here at Grace UCC we did just that. We purchased one of these filters to allow an entire family to now have clean water. Thanks for those pennies and nickels!
World Water Day was on Sunday, March 22, 2009. Since then our goal was to "raise up" enough pennies and nickels to purchase five more filters. As of May 21, 2009 we did just that! Now, six filters have been purchased and distributed to six different families who now have access to clean drinking water- thanks to you and your efforts...and those pennies and nickels.
Emergency Food Package
Imagine losing your home and everything in it from an earthquake like the one that devastated Pakistan in 2005. A food package, like the ones we provided in Pakistan, contains emergency food supplies for a family of five for a month. The packages typically include wheat flour, rice,cooking oil, sugar, tea, salt, a box of matches, and soap. These essential items can help a family make it through these terrible circumstances. Here at Grace UCC we were able to donate (Feb., 2009) one emergency food package (enough food to help take care of a family of five for one month) with "just" those pennies and nickels. Thank you!
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT)
A little packet that can save a life! One of the most effective tools in reducing mortality among at-risk infants and children, ORT is a mixture of salt and sugar in clean water that can prevent dehydration brought on by diarrhea -- the cause of death for two million children a year in the developing world. Packets are inexpensive -- $10 will buy enough to prevent dehydration in 11 children. What a difference your gift of ORT can make to an ailing child! Here at Grace UCC we were able to donate enough packets to help 55 children this February 2009. Amen and Amen!
Solar Stove
Solar stoves are a great way to provide a reliable and sustainable source of clean energy. In China, the Amity Foundation, a CWS partner, provides solar energy stoves for farmers in Qinghai province. In Germu City, where Tibetan villagers traditionally use animal dung for cooking, the sanitation and living conditions improved after Amity introduced solar stoves there. Your gift of a solar stove improves the environment and the lives of struggling farm families. At Grace UCC we were able to buy one stove with those pennies and nickels this February 2009. Thank you.
Cleft Charity
Unlike many charities that do many different things, The Smile Train is focused on solving a single problem: cleft lip and palate. Clefts are a major problem in developing countries where there are millions of children who are suffering with unrepaired clefts. Most cannot eat or speak properly. Aren’t allowed to attend school or hold a job. And face very difficult lives filled with shame and isolation, pain and heartache. The good news is every single child with a cleft can be helped with surgery...This is our mission:
-To provide free cleft surgery for millions of poor children in developing countries.
-To provide free cleft-related training for doctors and medical professionals.
Until there are no more children who need help and we have completely eradicated the problem of clefts. Here at Grace UCC, in September 2008, we were able to give, via our pennies and nickels, the money to provide for two children's surgeries. Thank you! (The pictures on the right show a before and after picture of a girl named Shiva. The YouTube below is a preview of a documentary titled Smile Pinki.)
A Water Buffalo, Rabbits and Chicks!
In honor of Clint and Judy's fiftieth wedding anniversary many of their family members came to church recently with literally pounds and pounds of pennies and nickels. So many that Grace UCC was able to obtain:
- Another water buffalo:
- Another rabbit hutch and two pairs of rabbits.
- Another wire chicken coop and fifty more chicks.
What a great way to honor a couple's wedding anniversary! (See below for futher details of what these gifts mean to those in need.)
Water Buffalo
These four-legged tractors provide a struggling farm family with the power to significantly increase their food production, as well as a strong back to carry produce to market. A water buffalo translates into increased income, better health, and the chance for children to go to school. This big animal makes an even bigger difference. Here at Grace we donated to date (August, 2008) two buffalos. And, we did so with those pennies and nickels. Thanks!
Opportunities for Women- Microcredit loans
Small loans provide start-up capital for women's groups to jump-start a business enterprise. Once the initial loan is repaid, it becomes part of a revolving loan fund for other women. Madam La Vie Saint-Phillip is secretary for one of these CWS-supported community banks in Haiti: "For us, the priorities are to send our children to school, provide food and medicine for our families, and add to the capital of the community bank. We are able to finance agricultural and small manufacturing enterprises that sell rice, salt, sugar, beans, oil, flour, kerosene, soap, and matches." This is a gift that really multiplies! Grace UCC was able to give one full loan for a woman or a women's group to start their own business- with just those pennies and nickels...
Seeds and Tools
For struggling farmers, hoes and shovels are lifelines of hope — tilling the soil, planting seeds, and clearing weeds. Simple, inexpensive garden tools and seeds allow farmers to grow vegetables and other food crops to feed their families. For example, in Sierra Leone and Angola, countries striving to recover from years of civil war, tools and seeds from Church World Service provide former combatants with a reliable source of income, an essential ingredient for a lasting peace. Here at Grace, with our pennies and nickels, we were able to give one set of seeds and tools. Seeds and tools are gifts that keep on giving!
Chicks
Cute and useful, chicks improve the diet and income of struggling farm families. In Indonesia’s Aceh province, Chicksfor example, Church World Service has provided chicks to groups of livestock farmers whose livelihood was wiped out by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. In addition, the farmers are learning about new techniques of animal husbandry to make their flocks healthier and more productive. Here at Grace UCC we were able to give to date (August, 2008) over one hundred chicks and two chicken coops! With our little pennies and nickels, others are rebuilding their homes and their livelihoods. Chicks are small, and so are pennies and nickels, but they can make a big difference!
Blankets
BlanketsWhen disaster strikes overseas or here at home, Church World Service blankets provide warmth, comfort, and, most importantly, the feeling that someone cares in a time of trouble. For example, CWS assisted tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Over 27,000 blankets were provided to the affected communities along with other urgently needed emergency supplies. A CWS blanket not only provides needed protection, it brings a ray of hope to people when they need it most and reminds them they are not alone. You, the members, friends and visitors to Grace UCC, were able to donate ten of these blankets with “just” our pennies and nickels…
Water Jugs for Life… Jerry Cans
When families and communities have been devastated by a disaster or violence and have lost their belongings, basics like water jugs (or jerry cans, as they are called), allow them to carry clean water for drinking and cooking. For example, in the Darfur region of western Sudan, Church World Service has provided jerry cans and other essential emergency supplies to families displaced by the violence in that war-torn area. A jerry can is a very simple tool, but one that assists families to survive in the most difficult circumstances. It is truly a gift that keeps on giving! Here at Grace UCC we were able to give eight of these water cans with those pennies and nickels…thanks!
In Case of Emergency…Shelter Kit
A shelter kit can mean the difference between life and death to a family displaced by a disaster. Shelter kits include a family-sized tent, ground sheet, plastic sheet, two iron poles, and four blankets. CWS shelter kits provided essential protection to families displaced by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean and to earthquake victims in Pakistan who faced a harsh mountain winter with no home to call their own. When one’s home has been swept away, shelter kits provide warmth and welcome protection from the elements - a place to begin anew. Grace UCC was able, with those pennies and nickels we all have in our pockets, in the car, in our drawers, to give one complete shelter kit. Imagine, an entire family housed with so little…
Rabbits
Rabbits can help struggling rural families increase their income. Rabbits are easy to care for and are famously prolific. For Charity Wutor, from the Volta region of Ghana, rabbits are a critical, even essential, source of income for her family; “My rabbits are like money in the bank. Now I know where my children’s school fees, books, and uniforms will come from. I don’t have to worry about that. Thank you and God bless you for helping us in this way!” Here at Grace UCC we were able to give, with those pennies and nickels, two pairs of rabbits and a rabbit hutch. Rabbits, a gift that will grow rapidly, multiplying your generosity… like rabbits!
Donate to Grace UCC online:
Worship celebrations are held every Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m.
What Is Kiva? We Let You Loan to the Working Poor
What is Kiva? Youtube
Remember that $100.00 loan we made to Kiva in the past? It has been repaid- yet again. With the $100.00 returned we are now (November, 2011) able to give another loan, this our fifth one and this time, again, for $100.00. (Click here to see all loans we have given to date.) Pennies and nickels and loans...they keep on giving and returning and giving again. Thank you! Dan
The name of this group is Sanlo, and it is made up of a group of craft workers who are full of dreams and desire to progress and succeed in the future. The majority of members make bags and napkins, and they chose their group name as it characterizes their area and culture....
One of the group's members is 27-year-old Leticia who is happily married to Paul, 28. They have three children - one daughter (age 11) and two sons. Leticia works hard to give her children a better life, so that they can study away from home as there is no college where they could obtain a degree in their town....Leticia sells handicrafts such as woven bags, napkins and traditional tunics. She has had this business for about ten years, and what she likes best about it is embroidery, which she has enjoyed since childhood. Leticia's mother taught her how to embroider, and how to combine cheerful colors to make her napkins look attractive....One of Leticia's dreams is to have a dressmaking school where she can teach people to embroider clothes, which is another of her passions that enriches her life....Leticia has asked for this loan to buy more material for producing bags and napkins, such as colored threads, bleached and colored cotton, needles and rings to tighten the fabric, and embroidery hooks...She thanks the foundation for the support they have offered to help change her life, provide a better future and enable her family to live better. Thanks to the foundation, families in needy communities have received help.
