THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2022 – SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022

It is time to start collecting “Cans and Kits” for

Annual Conference 2022!

We had a great collection of school kits, hygiene kits, and nonperishable food for local food pantries last year. We are expecting another great year of sharing God’s love and faithfulness as we collect cans and kits for the Charlottesville and Richmond Districts and UMCOR this year.

“Collecting Together” is the Cans and Kits for Annual Conference theme. We thank you in advance for being the generous givers that we know you are. “Collecting Together” we can make a difference in our communities and throughout the world. Please keep a record of the cans and kits you collect so they can be included in the report to be given at Annual Conference in Hampton June 16-18. There will be a blessing of the cans and kits at Annual Conference. Please also share this information with your congregation so they can get excited and involved. If you have questions or comments, you can contact Linda Porter at (804) 674-5220 or lpfromnc@msn.com.

We are resuming the collecting of UMCOR Kits for Disaster Response to support ministries nationally through UMCOR. This year we will be collecting cleaning kits and hygiene kits for UMCOR. These will be collected as follows:

Charlottesville District on Sat. June 4, 2-4 pm at Culpeper UMC and Trinity UMC

Richmond District on Sat. June 11, 9 am-12 noon at Lakeside UMC

If you can’t deliver your cleaning kits and hygiene kits on this day, don’t fret. You have the option of calling Darryl Lam at (540) 219-2829 for the Charlottesville District.

All kits will be delivered to Mission Central, a collection hub for UMCOR. You can find a list of the items to include in the kits at https://umcmission.org/umcor-relief-supplies/.

LOCAL MISSION OPPORTUNITIES

To honor the work that so many of our churches have already done, we will continue the tradition of collecting school kits. We will also be working on supporting our local Methodist Church Food Pantries.

We understand that many churches have partnerships with schools in their area, varying food pantries across the district and several agencies that provide help with homelessness, the foster care system, veterans associations, etc. We do not want to take away from the good work you are already doing! So keep doing the work that God has called you to!

We do, however, feel we have a great opportunity to help connect churches with churches to help spread the love of God even further than we could have ever imagined! So take a look and get involved….

COLLECT FOOD ITEMS FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE AND RICHMOND DISTRICT UMC FOOD PANTRIES

Food can be collected by the local church and then delivered to the food pantries at any time during their collection days. We hope if you are not already partnered with a church-sponsored food pantry, you might consider partnering beyond this one occasion with one of these on our list. They would be so grateful! The need is greater than ever. With job losses, the price of food increasing, homelessness, and other factors, every donation will be a blessing to our communities.

CLICK HERE to find out more about the Richmond District Food Pantries. All of these locations are in need of donations and are so appreciative of your support.

Contact the Charlottesville District Office at 434-977-4254 to find out more about the Charlottesville District Area Food Pantries.

Here is a list of the most needed items.

  • Peanut Butter
  • Canned Vegetables
  • Canned Fruits
  • Tomato Products
  • Beans
  • Whole Grain Cereals
  • Wheat Grains
  • Healthy Snacks

If your church collects donations, for the Charlottesville District, please email charlottesvilledistrict@vaumc.org and for the Richmond District, please email richmonddistrict@vaumc.org with the number of items your church collected, so we can share our totals with the Conference.

ASSEMBLE SCHOOL KITS FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS

School kits are also being collected for local schools. Last year many churches provided school kits to their neighborhood schools. Many churches have a partnership with their neighborhood school and provide supplies year-round. This is a call to all the churches in the district to reach out and see how you can help provide school supplies that will benefit the students in our communities. The school kits can be taken directly to a neighborhood school.

STAY CONNECTED & REACH YOUR COMMUNITY

Our HOPE is to:

Help build community,

Offer partnerships,

Provide support, and

Encourage each other in these challenging times.

Thank you in advance as you work to “help the least of these”. If you have any questions about current projects and/or AC missions projects, email RichmondDistrict@vaumc.org