Hunger projects from 19 churches received $24,000 as a result of the cash offering from fall mission events. This fall the Dakotas Conference held mission events throughout North and South Dakota—Dakotas Marketplace, Sioux Falls, SD, Mission Fair, Pierre, SD, Party on the Prairie, Minot, ND and Pack the vans at Bismarck and Fargo, ND.
Total cash receipts from the fall were over $70,000. Income from the events provides funding for Imagine No Malaria, shipping UMCOR mission kits, Church World Service blankets and hunger projects
Churches were invited to apply for funds to assist with projects that feed those in need. A committee considered applications and awarded $24,000 funds based on the following criteria: community scope of the hot meal program, size of the program, longevity of the program, and geographical location.
The committee awarded 19 grants ranging from $250-$3,000. There were three new recipients, Community Friendship Meal at Beach United Methodist Church in Howard, SD, Heaven’s Helper Soup Café in Bismarck, ND and Tuesday Morning Breakfast at Watertown First UMC in Watertown, SD. Eleven of the grant winners serve meals to senior citizens throughout the Dakotas Conference.
UMCOR kits were also collected at the fall mission events. The total value of the kits collected was $209,000 bringing the grand total for the fall mission events to $280,000.