First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto

Haiti Earthquake - How You Can Help	Joy Of Giving 2009	Nothing But Nets	Support our Church with eScrip
Food Drive	Centennial Endowment Summer Newsletter	John Wesley Society Dinner	School Library, Cabala, Angola
Community Maternal & Child Health Care	Centennial Endowment Grants	Centennial Endowment Grants Have Made A Difference	United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

Haiti Earthquake - How You Can Help

UMCOR Responds to the Earthquake in Haiti

A major earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 12, 2010, causing widespread destruction. Millions of people are affected and thousands are feared dead. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has close ties with the Methodist Church in Haiti and is responding to the devastating earthquake with funding, material resources and prayers.

UMCOR executive, Melissa Crutchfield says, “We are working with our partners on the ground to provide immediate relief to the people in Haiti. UMCOR has worked in Haiti for many years. We anticipate that there will be years of rebuilding needed and are prepared to work with the people to help them through that process.”

Working with partners, Action by Churches Together, Church World Service, Global Medic and the Methodist Church, UMCOR is channeling its resources to respond effectively to the people most in need.

How You Can Help
Gifts to support UMCOR's Haiti Relief efforts can be online. Go to http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=418325&id=3018760 to donate.

You can also donate by check. Checks can be made to UMCOR with Advance #418325 Haiti Emergency in the memo line. Checks can be put in the church offering plate this Sunday or mailed to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087.

UMCOR Sager Brown is coordinating a shipment of health kits to provide individuals with basic necessities. Instructions for assembling and shipping health kits are available at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/.

Please pray for all of the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Thank you for your faithful support for all of God’s children. 100% of gifts made to this advance will go to help the people of Haiti.<

Joy Of Giving 2009

The Joy of Giving has been a long Christmas tradition of the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto. It is a natural expression of our faith in Christ and our caring and love for our people in every part of the world.

Through the Joy of Giving you can designate which listed organization(s) your financial gift should be given. As you can see below, we have global opportunities as well as local opportunities to which you can give.

Make your checks payable to: First United Methodist Church and mark them "Joy Of Giving". Please add a note indicating which of the designated groups you want to donate to, and how much of your donation each group should receive.

Send your donation to: First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, 635 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301

If you wish to give a gift in honor of someone on your Christmas list, you may request a gift card from the church office.

Click here for the Joy of Giving information brochure and donation form.

Click "Show rest of Joy of Giving 2009" to learn more about the organizations that are part of this year's Joy Of Giving program.

Show rest of 'Joy Of Giving 2009'...

Opportunities at Our Doorstep

EPA CAN DO
East Palo Alto Community Alliance & Neighborhood Development Corporation (EPA CAN DO) focuses on affordable housing development and management for individuals and families, including those who have encountered troubled mortgages. In the last two years EPA CAN DO has guided over 250 families in modifying their loans and has counseled hundreds of others in home buying.

Green Pastures
For children with developmental disabilities Green Pastures, a local mission project in Mountain View, has provided a home — a safe place, a haven to learn and grow with and individualized care — for more than 20 years. Green Pastures has started a second home in East Palo Alto and seeks funds to remodel the original home in Mountain View to serve the children better.

InnVision
InnVision focuses on empowering homeless and at-risk families and individuals. Our contribution is vital in this tough economic time because of cutbacks in funds from Silicon Valley firms. InnVision addresses the multiple needs of people in transition, including food, clothing, showers, laundry, healthcare, transition housing, job training and many other items. InnVision programs reach throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and serve more than 20,000 people each year at 20 different sites.

Ecumenical Hunger Program
Located in East Palo Alto, Ecumenical Hunger Program (EHP) works with families throughout our area to eliminate their hunger and break the cycle of poverty. EHP provides food, clothing, household goods, and referral services. By providing its programs with compassion and respect, EHP promotes the personal dignity of those it serves while encouraging self-reliance.

Ministers’ Discretionary Fund
This fund allows our pastors to confidentially provide small gifts of money to congregation members in financial crisis and to the increasing number of jobless and homeless people who come to our church for help. Our pastors depend on the fund so that no one in need will be turned away empty-handed.

Support Network (for victims of violence)
The Sunnyvale-based Support Network helps battered women and families throughout Santa Clara County. They provide counseling, shelter, support groups, legal assistance, a children's program and a volunteer program. During the past fiscal year they answered over 6,000 crisis calls, provided 16,000 counseling sessions and sheltered 247 women and children. Our gifts will help maintain these vital services.

Global & Regional Outreach Opportunities

Water for life: Kenya and Uganda
In October 2009 First Church hosted a Special Mission Visitor, Deborah Katina from the East African office of Church World Service (CWS). Deborah heads the CWS projects in Kenya and Uganda that bring good water — literally, the water of life — to peoples in those two sub-Saharan countries. She told us of the Sand Dam technology and witnessed to the transformation the projects bring to the health and well being of the people. This is your opportunity to provide additional support for this life-giving work.

Heifer Project: Kids for Kids
Somewhere in the world, right now, children are tending to their goats. Goats and children go together well: one dairy goat can provide a family of four with enough milk to drink for a year and plenty leftover to sell. With this income, many children will be able to go to school. Gardens fertilized with goat manure yield more crops. Help provide “Kids for Kids” in many different countries. ($120 provides a goat and training in its care.)

Maua Methodist Hospital: Kenya
For several years First Church has continued to help the Maua Methodist Hospital in Meru, Kenya to expand its Community Health Outreach Program to several outlying communities where no such services were available. This staff cares for AIDS patients and provides HIV prevention education, family planning information, immunizations, malaria prevention services, TB testing, and more to the communities. In 2006 several of our youth and Stephen Black visited this hospital to work on projects there and gave us a first-hand account of the hospital’s vital medical outreach.

Sierra Service Project
Sierra Service Project is a non-profit organization providing life-changing experiences through acts of service repairing homes in Native American and urban communities, and building homes in Honduras. Each summer, approximately 1500 teenagers, 250 adult volunteers and over 40 paid summer staff live, worship and work together on different project sites. Their work results in more than 130 safer, drier and more comfortable homes each year. Program fees cover about 85% of SSP’s expenses. The remaining 15% of costs are covered by donations from congregations, individuals, and grant-making organizations.

Person in Mission (PIM): Mexico
The Santa Elena School in Mexico serves 60 Tarahumara Indian children, improving their lives through education, a balanced diet, hygiene, medical attention, and growth in the Christian faith. The school directors are UMC Persons in Mission (PIM). This program enables UMC partner organizations in other countries to hire personnel as missionaries in their own countries. Supporting a PIM is part of our commitment to be a Global Mission Partner.

Missionary: Paul Jeffrey
The First Church budget provides $2500 to support Paul Jeffrey, a missionary who works as a photojournalist traveling throughout the world reporting for church-based media. This is your opportunity to provide
additional support for his award winning work.

Hide Extended Entry

Nothing But Nets

The children of Africa need us to help stop the spread of malaria.

In the poorest parts of the world, where effective window screens are lacking, insecticide-treated bed nets are arguably the most cost-effective way to prevent malaria transmission. One bed net costs just $10 to buy and deliver to individuals in need.

You can buy a net by going to www.nothingbutnets.net.

Nothing But Nets is a global, grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly challenged his readers to donate $10 for the purchase of an anti-malaria bed net, and thousands of people have joined the campaign. The people of The United Methodist Church, along with Sports Illustrated, NBA Cares, the United Nations Foundation and several other groups, are raising funds to purchase bed nets to end malaria. You can join the cause and contribute money for bed nets that will keep children and families safe.

Support our Church with eScrip

One of the easiest ways to support our church is through the eScrip program.

eScrip has signed up hundreds of merchants (including Safeway, Andronicos, Draegers, Macy's, Piazza’s and Round Table).Whenever you shop at one of these merchants, the church will receive a portion of the proceeds.

Simply log on to the eScrip website at www.escrip.com and sign up your merchant cards (such as the Safeway club card) and the credit cards you use to shop. The church's ID number is 137957517.

If you have previously signed up to support the church, make sure your credit cards are up to date on the site. If you've already signed up with eScrip to support another group, such as a school, eScrip allows you to support up to three groups.

Simply go to their website and edit your existing user information. Feel free to call Craig Norris if you have lost your ID number or if you have any other questions.

Food Drive

Help feed and clothe the needy in our community.

The Outreach Committee is collecting canned food for the Food Closet. Every Monday morning we deliver the collected food to the InnVision Food Closet.

Please bring items to the collection bin in the Narthex .

Centennial Endowment Summer Newsletter

A Pastor’s vision - a Bishop’s enthusiastic support - A Church member’s leadership - a Congregation’s commitment - a 100th anniversary.

Buoyed by prayers, the Centennial Endowment was born.

Read about the Centennial Endowment Funds and how you can give a gift that keeps on giving in their latest newsletter.

Click here to download the newsletter.

John Wesley Society Dinner

Approximately 30 people attended the 2006 John Wesley Society dinner and program sponsored by the Centennial Endowment Committee. Following welcome and introductions by Reverend Archer Summers, Nancy Glaser recognized four new members of the John Wesley Society.

The new members are Marsha Sterling, Bart Cox, and Bob and Carol Olmstead. The Society was established by the United Methodist Church to recognize those who have made significant endowment contributions to the Church. At First United in Palo Alto, those contributions are administered by the Centennial Endowment Committee who recommend the award of significant grants of money each year to worthy projects within our Church, in the outside community, and overseas as well. The Methodist Foundation invests most of the Centennial Endowment funds and representatives of that organization attended. Mark and Kathy Parsons drove from Sacramento where Mark is the President of the Foundation.

Show rest of 'John Wesley Society Dinner'...

School Library, Cabala, Angola

School Library, Cabala, Angola

Estimated Project Cost: $10,000

The purpose of this initiative is to build a library as part of an expansion of a one-room school in the community of Cabala. Funds are needed for materials to make bricks and secure other materials for construction of the library, as well as (later) to outfit the library with furniture and books.

Cabala is one of 20 villages selected by the West Angola Conference (UMC) and Angola Ministry of Health for working in partnership with the California-Nevada Conference (UMC). Villages selected for the partnership were chosen based on need, presence of leadership that will likely promote and sustain the assistance efforts, and accessibility to construction equipment and supplies.

JP Maguire, Volunteers in Mission (VIM) coordinator of the California-Nevada Conference, has been working closely with West Angola Conference leaders to make plans for construction of the library that ultimately will encourage the habit of reading and improve education for children in the community. VIM teams from the California-Nevada Conference will work alongside people from the community of Cabala to build the library and provide follow-up.

Click here to read about the other Many Faces of Africa project, the Community Maternal and Child Health Care at Maua Methodist Hospital in Meru, Kenya.

Click here to download the Many Faces of Africa projects brochure.

Community Maternal & Child Health Care

Community Maternal and Child Health Care,
Maua Methodist Hospital, Meru, Kenya

Estimated Project Cost: $14,117

The purpose of this initiative is to enable Maua Methodist Hospital to greatly expand the existing community health care outreach work that takes essential preventive and curative health care services to areas within our district where such services are not available and the population is too poor to seek services from other sources. Our goal is to provide maternal and child health services to eight communities.

Our Goals
The following are very important and achievable goals that we want to accomplish.

1. Make regular monthly visits to the eight sites.

2. Increase usage of ante-natal services and especially prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.

3. Have 10% of mothers who deliver babies to accept family planning methods and to maintain the continuation rate at more than 70%.

4. Achieve 80% completion of primary immunizations.

5. Reduce incidence of malaria and prevalence of worm infestation. Prevention of malaria in a pregnant woman will not only save the life of the unborn child, but will prevent the mother from becoming severely ill and unable to provide for herself and her family.

6. Educate communities on ways to prevent burns especially to small children. Offer ear-nose-throat and eye primary health care services.
In order to be able to take those services to the eight communities, we will need a vehicle with enough space for five staff and the required supplies and tools.

Additional information about Maua Methodist Hospital can be found at www.chak.or.ke/maua-methodist.asp.

Click here to read about the other Many Faces of Africa project; the School Library in Cabala, Angola.

Click here to download the Many Faces of Africa projects brochure and donation form.

Centennial Endowment Grants

Since 1988, almost $700,000 in grants has been awarded by the Centennial Endowment Funds. A short presentation has been prepared which highlights some of the projects and the organizations that have benefitted from our these grants.

Click here to view the presentation.

Give the gift that keeps on giving - Remember the Centennial Endowment Funds in your will.

Show rest of 'Centennial Endowment Grants'...

To protect mourners from a nasty fall, in 2002 a railing was added to the upper memorial garden thanks to a $5500 grant from our Centennial Endowment Funds.

Our security lies in the Lord, but railings make His job easier.. Remember the Centennial Endowment Funds in your will.

In 1988 a group of church members had an idea to start a fund to raise money to support mission projects around the world, as well as providing an ongoing source of funds to support projects around the church. The money wouldn't be spent all at once, but would be invested, and a portion of the funds would be made avaialble each year in the form of grants. With an eye to having the fund up and running for First Palo Alto's 100th anniversary, the Centennial Endowment Funds were born.

Over $440,000 in grants have been made since the inception of the funds.

A set percentage of the total funds in the endowment are available each year to be disbursed as grants. Each spring, church committees are invited to make grant applications for specific projects either in the church or around the world.

The Centennial Endowment Funds Committee reviews these applications and makes a recommendation as to which projects should be funded. These recommendations are ultimately brought to a church conference for final approval.

A Wide Variety of Programs Have Received Centennial Endowment Garnts

There are actually 3 different Centenial Endowment Funds that you can contribute to.

The Mission Fund
Grants from the Centennial Endowment Mission fund are exclusively spent on outreach programs around the world. Grants have included:
• buying a motorcycle for a modern day circuit-rider minister in India
• supporting campus ministry programs
• rebuilding churches damaged by a cyclone in Tonga
• helping to build the Opportunity Center of the Midpeninsula
• supporting youth programs around the Bay Area

The Property Fund
Grants from the Centennial Endowment Property fund are exclusively spent on new equipment and renovation and modernization projects at the church. Grants have included:
• Helping to purchase a parsonage for our associate pastor
• Providing new appliances and fixtures for our heavily used kitchens
• Buying a new phone system and wiring the entire church for the internet
• Remodeling Church bathrooms
• Replacing old classroom furniture
• Establishing a seminary intern program

The Unrestricted Fund
Grants from the Centennial Endowment Unrestricted fund can be spent on either mission or property projects.

Give the Gift That Keeps on Giving
Your gift to the Centennial Endowment funds keeps on working to help people and help the church year after year.

You can donate to the Centennial Endowment Funds in two ways.

Immediate Gift
You can make a donation in cash or stocks.

Deferred Gift
You can make a donation by remembering the Centennial Endowment Funds:
• in your will ( you can leave cash, stocks and/or property to the funds)
• by naming the Centennial Endowment Funds as beneficiary of a life insurance policy

Happy Birthday Centennial Endowment Funds!

For more information contact Nancy Glaser: endowment@firstpaloalto.com

Hide Extended Entry

Centennial Endowment Grants Have Made A Difference

Over the years the church needs funds outside our regular church budget to keep our physical plant safe, secure and accommodating. The following is an interview with the chair of our trustees, Allen Wood, on how the Centennial Endowment Grants have helped over the years…….

“All capital expenses must come from either Centennial Endowment grants or direct bequests – so over the years these funds have made an important difference to our physical plant. For example:

• $7,736 was awarded in 1991 to build our first handicap accessible restroom. We took a closet and turned it into the restroom. That project paved the way to doing the whole millennium remodeling. We were also granted $5,960 for refurbishing the Patio Room that year.

• In 1992, we replaced the one Patio Room door with the current large, inviting doors with a $7,555 grant. When we had only one door it just really blocked foot traffic, especially when serving food in the Patio Room.

• The existing outdoor sign (on the corner of Webster & Hamilton) was installed in 1994 with a $2,800 grant. It really helps to let passersby know who we are.

• In 1995 we were awarded $6,500 to fix the closures on the heavy (and dangerous) main doors of the church.

• In 1996 $1,470 was awarded to redo the entry from Webster Street. We had a badly sloped walkway and rain gathered there. This greatly enhanced our entry into church.

• Finally, I’d like to mention the series of grants that we were awarded in the late ‘90’s totaling over $19,000. They were to purchase six new exterior doors for the education building. The old ones were wood and falling apart. One of the two that went out to the parking lot fell apart on a windy day. We eventually replaced all the doors which resulted in better security, better appearance and certainly easier for people to enter and exit.”

Show rest of 'Centennial Endowment Grants Have Made A Difference'...

United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

UMCOR is the disaster relief agency within the United Methodist denomination.

Whenever and wherever an emergency occurs throughout the world, this agency is the one that responds initially on behalf of the United Methodist church. 100% of your donations are used directly for relief services.

How can you help? A yearly offering is taken at First Palo Alto for UMCOR's general fund, and special offerings are taken when we are asked to respond. All donations are welcomed.

Contact: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor