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Youth Mission
Gift of the Heart Kits for Church World Service
Each year, the youth group collects items we assemble into kits Church World Service distributes to people in need of them. One year, we made school kits for children in Afghanistan; another year, we made health kits. Church World Service takes our kits into some of the poorest and most dangerous places on earth. People in the church donate the items for whatever kind of kits we are making that year, and we put them together.
Here is the link to the part of the Church World Service website that explains the Gift of the Heart Kits.
One time we made the kits, we had items left over. Church World Service has to keep all the kits of one kind the same, with the right number of each item. We wondered what we could do with the extra items, and we had quite a few. Our youth coordinator and pastor set up a contact with the Cumberland Women's Center and them to a meeting place and gave them to the Center for the women and their children. We couldn't know where the women and childen were living because they have to be kept safe.
We also made kits for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Interestingly, one of our church members met someone who had been working in the Gulf states after the devastation, and the person had handed out Church World Service boxes of kits marked as coming from First Presbyterian Church, Bridgeton, NJ.
Two Cents Per Meal for the Hungry
Our youth group asks the people of our church to put aside 2 cents for every meal they eat and, then, bring the pennies to a Sunday worship service. There is a container for them on one of the ushers' tables. West Jersey Presbytery collects this money from all our participating churches in support of hunger programs. A penny may seem like nothing (there's even a movement to do away with pennies), but presbyteries have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through this simple 2 cents per meal program. Some of the money collected we retain locally for the Good Shepherd Dining Room at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Bridgeton.
Meals for Ronald McDonald House in Camden
We have gone to Camden's Ronald McDonald House to serve meals and have really appreciated the opportunity to meet the parents and siblings of some very sick children. We made friends and, hopefully, gave some comfort to the families
In addition, the youth group has placed a box in the sanctuary to collect depleted printer ink cartridges. Recently, 153 cartridges were packaged and shipped for recycling, providing $306 for the Ronald McDonald House.
Roadside Clean-up
Every so often, we do a roadside clean-up to combine a service project with a fund-raiser.
The Annual CROP Walk for the Hungry
Various churches and the local synagogue join us in the walk to raise money for hunger programs in America and around the world. Our next walk is set for May 20, 2007.
Pictures of the 2006 Walk
Souper Bowl Sunday for the Good Shepherd Dining Room in Bridgeton
This year, the group raised $237 for the Dining Room which serves meals to people who need them five days a week. The group also sometimes goes to St. Teresa of Avila Church where the Good Shepherd Room is operated and helps serve a meal there.
Have a Heart Kits for Church World Service