McCormick UMC seeks to remain true to the United Methodist tradition of keeping our hearts, minds, and doors open in outreach to others by seeking to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our community and beyond. As highlighted elsewhere on this website, the following community needs are addressed through the outreach efforts of Christ Care Groups: basic needs for children and the aging population, domestic abuse victims, family intervention, people in crisis situations, mental health issues, welcoming new community members. In addition, outreach occurs through the work of McCormick United Methodist Men and McCormick United Methodist Women as highlighted separately on this website.

 

The Outreach Missions Committee at McCormick UMC is composed of leaders or designated members of the organizations in the church who have outreach missions as a focus. This group meets bi-monthly to monitor and address the overall outreach of the church through raising funds and authorizing disbursement of budgeted outreach funds.

McCormick United Methodist Church hosted the Rise Against Hunger event on Saturday, October 6. This was the sixth year that members of our church, community and schools joined the assembly line to pack 20,000 dehydrated meals, comprised of rice, soy, vegetables and 23 essential vitamins and minerals. To date, MUMC has packaged a total of 120,000 meals that will relieve hunger in third-world countries.

 

The Mission Outreach Committee wishes to thank all the 75 participants who worked as a team to pack the meals and get them loaded on the truck in less than two hours!

Nine members of the congregation of McCormick UMC were among the 600-plus who attended this year’s Celebration Dinner of the Lakelands Fellowship of Christian Athletes on October 2. They were (left to right) Bob and Marsha Garner, Pastor Nels, Don Tummons, Ronnie Kidd, Carol Tummons, Fred and Carol Fuller, and Linda Kidd. Lakelands FCA is one of the organizations in our community that receives financial support through a portion of McCormick UMC’s annual budget. Additionally, McCormick UMC sponsored a fundraiser dinner this year to raise summer camp scholarship funds for FCA student athletes from McCormick High and Middle Schools. Donors who have given $1,000-plus to Lakelands FCA received a beautiful bronze plaque that is inscribed with Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The group is shown holding the plaque presented to McCormick UMC. Don Tummons and Fred Fuller are also volunteers to McCormick’s FCA huddles. The group was especially glad to be there to see Rico Salliewhite, McCormick High School Athletic Director and Basketball Coach, be honored as this year’s Lakelands FCA Coach of the Year. Keynan Kennedy, student athlete from McCormick High, spoke about what his involvement with FCA has meant to him. What a blessing to be a part of an initiative that is sharing Jesus Christ with young people!

20+ BASKETS AND MONETARY DONATION

What a wonderful start to our “Elder Basket” ministry!!! Thank you everyone!!! Nancy Vereb and Belinda Ramsey joined Lola Rek last Tuesday to organize and fill the laundry baskets with the items that were brought in during our campaign in September. They filled 20 laundry baskets and there are still items coming in which may mean the purchase of more laundry baskets. Along with all the items donated, $453 has been donated to the “Elder Basket” ministry. A check from this account will go to the Native American Committee for the purchase of more items to fill even more “Elder Baskets”.

On Saturday, June 23, the fellowship hall at McCormick United Methodist Church was the scene of a camp scholarship fundraiser dinner for McCormick High School student athletes who will be attending camps sponsored by the Lakelands Fellowship of Christian Athletes this summer. Eleven of the student athletes served the meal to their guests. At the conclusion of the dinner, it was announced that $2,000 was raised to be used as camp scholarship funds for the student athletes. In addition, $1,100 in tips were donated by the dinner guests to be given to the student servers for their personal use while at camp.

 

For five years now, the community of McCormick has come together during the month of October – World Hunger Month – to package meals for not only their neighbors in need around the world, but also for neighbors in our country who are battling hunger as a result of natural disasters and other issues. On Saturday, October 7 the total number of meals packaged during that five year time period exceeded the 100,000 meal mark when McCormick United Methodist Church hosted its fifth meal packaging event that brought together 106 volunteers who, under the direction of representatives from the Rise Against Hunger organization, packaged over 20,000 meals in a little over two hours.

 

Joining the members of the McCormick UMC congregation this year were many volunteers who gave extra hands to lighten the load of achieving the task at hand. Those volunteers included, in addition to friends and neighbors, a group of Girl Scouts, McCormick High School students, student athletes from the McCormick Schools, students in residence at John de la Howe School, local children’s home, young people from Mt. Moriah Church, a proud grandmother from Republican UMC who brought her grandson to help for the third year in a row; and one young lady who came just because she read about it in the newspaper.

 

Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief agency that seeks to end global hunger by engaging local volunteers. The organization was formed in 1998 by Ray Buchanan, a United Methodist Minister, and began its meal packaging program in 2005. The organizational mission is stated as “Rise Against Hunger is driven by the vision of a world without hunger. Its mission is to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable and creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.”

 

Rise Against Hunger mobilizes more than 350,000 volunteers each year to package meals for people in need around the globe. Since 2005, Rise Against Hunger has distributed more than 315,000,000 meals to recipients in 74 countries.