WOW! Our Outreach Ministry includes our entire congregation. Yes, there’s a team of people who meet occasionally, make decisions, and set times to do specific tasks—most of the team members appear in this photo. But it is the whole congregation that makes our ministry as effective as it is. Many people bring items for the pantry, and every single item is needed and appreciated. Many people participate in funding all of our recurring projects such as Back to School or Adopt a Child for Christmas, as well as occasional one-time collections that arise from natural or people-made disasters.

Maureen’s Haven

In November, we will begin serving dinner every other Monday evening to overnight guests of the Maureen’s Haven Homeless Shelter. There are many ways to participate in and/or support this Outreach ministry:

• Contribute a staple item such as plates, cups, napkins, paper towels; coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and iced-tea mix; loaves of bread
• Prepare part of a dinner, which consists of soup, 2–3 entrees, several side dishes (salad, vegetable, rice, etc.), bread, and dessert
• Donate food for the bag lunches, such as bread, cold cuts, apples or other fruit, juice boxes, snack items like protein bars, nuts
• Help prepare the lunches; come along to serve the dinner and to fellowship with the guests
• Make a financial donation, which will be used to purchase needed supplies for lunches, breakfast, etc.

For more information please speak with Diane Burkhardt, Priscilla Hartman, or Linda McCall.

Thanksgiving Food Baskets

The Outreach Team looks forward to receiving a large donation of items for the pantry from the Women’s Guild of Leisure Glen. When these items are combined with what we will receive from the congregation and other partners, our pantry will be well-stocked for the Thanksgiving food baskets to be prepared for our Helping Hands families. From the congregation we will especially request fresh fruits and vegetables to accompany the turkey, and non-perishable staples.

Annual Thanksgiving Dinner

The Long Island Council of Churches’ annual Thanksgiving dinner for seasonal workers and others in the Riverhead community will be served on Tuesday, November 25 at Polish Hall in Riverhead, NOT the Riverhead Middle School. Once again a large team of youth and adults from NSUMC will volunteer at the dinner. Contact Diane Burkhardt or Tricia Littlefield if you would like to join us for that event.

Adopt a Child for Christmas

Provide a blessing to a child from one of our Helping Hands families this Christmas. Beginning on Sunday, November 30 you can choose an ornament from the Adopt-a-Child tree in the Narthex. Each child will have two ornaments, one for a clothing gift, the other for a fun or interest gift (game, toy, etc.). The ornaments will be tagged with a name, age, and a bit of information to assist in choosing a gift.

Some folks prefer to make a financial donation to support this project. Checks are payable to NSUMC with Adopt-A-Child in the memo line, or put cash or gift cards in an envelope labeled Adopt-A-Child.