Kirkwood UMC's Missions provide opportunities

Kirkwood United Methodist Church. (GoogleMaps)

Kirkwood United Methodist Church welcomes all to participate in its missions for the community. This Holiday season KUMC’s special mission projects started this Nov. 21.

Special Mission Projects

As shared on its webpage, KUMC’s special mission projects change monthly. For November, these projects include Brown Bag Sunday and Advent Food Boxes.

Lifewise STL Brown Bag Sunday

According to KUMC, Brown Bag Sunday started last Nov. 21. Those who wanted to participate picked up bags at the Mission Window. KUMC handed these bags with the suggested gift list.

The list served as a guide for shopping over the holiday sales for gifts. These gifts should fill in the brown bag. Then, KUMC will donate it to LifeWise STL for its Holiday Market.

LifeWise STL has organized the Holiday Market for over fifty years. It caters to families who have taken part in programming to provide them with a low–cost, carefully curated home.

Along with a new home, Lifewise STL gives clothing and age-appropriate toys that can be bought and delivered to their families on Christmas. KUMC shared two ways on how one can help this mission.

The first is by the Brown Bag Sunday. The church provided a link to suggested donations for the Holiday Market. Those who wanted to participate were asked to purchase the items on the list, put them in a brown paper bag, and bring them to the altar worship on Dec. 5.

KUMC will deliver these gifts to LifeWise STL after the service.

Another way to participate is by becoming a volunteer in the Holiday Market. Volunteers can help with the setup or assist in the shopping event at LifeWise STL.

Advent Food Boxes

KUMC targets to provide food to 100 families this Christmas. According to its webpage, it asks everyone to help them reach this goal.

This mission can be made possible by filling a box with a holiday meal, groceries, and some Christmas cheer to a family in need within the community. Those who want to donate can also add another item or item for the beneficiary.

Picking up Advent Boxes started last Nov. 21. KUMC handed each box with instructions on how to fill it with items and food for the holiday.

Everyone was encouraged to add their personal touches to the Advent Food Box. All boxes should be returned to the church by Dec. 12.

KUMC also provided another option to support this project. Anyone can give a financial contribution to Realm. By choosing “Food Pantry” from the drop-down menu, one can donate the cost of a box, estimated to be $30.

The Mission Projects are ongoing outreach for KUMC. These missions are reoccurring projects at the church.

As stated on KUMC’s webpage, Fed to Feed Others: KUMC’s Food Pantry is an ongoing weekly mission at the church. It has weekly collections to support one of the four local food banks that KUMC is partnered with: Bellefontaine UMC, La Trinidad KUMC, KirkCare, LifeWise STL, Epworth Children, and Family Services, and Kirkwood School District.

Those willing to donate can drop off non – perishables in the Mission Dropbox Bin from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. from Mon. – Thurs. The bin is placed in front of the glass doors of the church.

KUMC, through its website, also provided another option on how everyone can donate on Sundays.