Outreach

Let your light so shine before men . . .

Outreach is one of the most exciting and rewarding areas of participation at Mountain View. It creates many opportunities for church members to choose how they can be actively involved in service to others. All members are invited to suggest outreach ideas and to use this committee as a resource for getting their projects going. We focus on meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of those we serve. In addition to many local and Peace with Justice opportunities, we continue to support traditional missionary work around the world and are a Mission Covenant Church.

SPECIFIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Community Table

Meals are served at no cost to anyone needing and wanting fellowship with others around a dinner table. Mt. View hosts Community Table every Wednesday evening, including driving our church van to gather those who need transportation. Volunteers from Mt. View greet guests, set up, prepare, serve and clean up on the third Wednesday of the month. Contact Duane and Muriel McIntire, Trudy Gygi or Kay Lathrop.

Homeless Shelter Meals

Various groups within Mt. View prepare and serve meals at the Boulder Homeless Shelter once/month. Contact Kay Lathrop.

Community Food Share

Continuous food drive, focusing especially on canned meats, fruit peanut butter. Donations can be left outside Larissa Cox's office. Contact June Huss.

Clothing Drives

Mt. View collects gently used clothing year-round, sorts the clothing and donates it to one of three organizations:

• Shiprock, New Mexico Native Americans -- churches in this area distribute much-needed children's clothing
• Colie's Closet -- locally-organized youth organization that raises money for depression and suicide counseling for youth through used clothing sales
• Step 13 -- Denver-based Christian organization helping homeless adults get back on their feet

In addition to donating gently-used clothing, we welcome help at periodicclothes-sorting parties. Contact Dave Wait.

Boulder United Methodist Mission Partners (BUMMP)

Mt. View is one of a group of fourteen area UM churches that provide mission opportunities jointly through BUMMP. BUMMP has existed for 30 years, beginning with projects such as building chicken coups to allow persons in Haiti to be self-supporting. In 2005, BUMMP coordinated the continuation of a rural hospital construction project in Bolivia, with multiple medical team members who supplied a pharmacy and treated patients. This project involved 60 persons over a period of 6 weeks. Their work continues to support rural medicine in Bolivia through donations to "Adopt-A-Doc". Local opportunities often include "fix-it" or construction tasks. One means of BUMMP fund-raising is a large Salmon Dinner and Silent Auction held each October. Contact Arnie Scheer, Fraser Thompson, Liz Sims, Kay Lathrop, Don Wisdom, Bill Youngblood or June Huss.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat has been very active in Boulder County, and can provide opportunities for the professional and the beginner. A new series of houses is under construction in Broomfield and a project in North Boulder is planned. Contact Dave Beaty at 303-443-1495.

Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA)

ECHO House, an EFAA project, provides homeless families with temporary housing. Mt. View maintains and supplies paper goods, cleaning supplies, etc. for one apartment. Contact Duane and Muriel McIntire, 303-447-3509.

Covenant Missionary Relationship

This United Methodist program matches missionaries with local churches who will "covenant" with them in support of their ministry. Mt. View supports Yema Luhahi, serving as a nursing instructor in Kenya, with prayers, funds and communication. Contact Bonnie Strand.

Restorative Justice Healing Circles

These circles are hosted at Mt. View and provide victim/offender restoration opportunities. Contact PJ Hyrnik.

Jail Ministry

Used paperback books are collected for the Boulder County Jail. Place your donations in the box labeled "Jail Ministry" in the narthex, or contact Duane and Muriel McIntire.

Fair Trade Products

To help provide a sustainable wage to those who grow our coffee and tea, Mt. View serves products that are fair-trade certified. We also make information available on how to purchase fair trade products for home use. Contact Bonnie Strand.

CROP Walk and Blanket Sunday

Church World Service (CWS) provides emergency assistance to suffering peoples throughout the world. They are often the first on the scene of a disaster with temporary shelter, clean water and food. Mt. View participates in CROP Walk, a walk where participants gather pledges and raise money for CWS hunger ministries, and Blanket Sunday where a $5 donation buys a blanket for someone in need. Contact Ray and Margot LaPanse, Kay Lathrop or Bonnie Strand.

Blood Donations

Mt. View members are encouraged to donate blood through Bonfils Blood Center. The Bonfils staff is very helpful to first-time donors. When you donate, indicate that you are donating in the name of Mt. View United Methodist Church, Group 82. Questions? Contact Chuck or Elaine Morrison.

Grocery Card Sales

King Soopers and Safeway gift cards are offered for sale on Sunday mornings. As a result of our volume purchases and our non-profit organization status, we receive a 5% discount on these purchases from the grocery stores. This difference is used to fund Mt. View Outreach activities. Purchase cards (checks or cash please) between services in the narthex, or contact Glen Strand.

Soup Labels

Labels from Campbell's, Swanson's, V8, Pace, Franco-American, Prego and Pepperidge Farm containers are collected in a box in the narthex and sent to McCurdy School, Espanola, New Mexico. The school redeems their large collections of labels with these companies for school or playground equipment (they have obtained 3 vans through this program!) Contact Elaine Morrison.

Family-To-Family and Share-A-Gift

Since their inception, Mt. View has been instrumental in these two holiday activities serving Boulder County Social Services client families. Family-to-Family provides specific new gifts selected by individual clients, while Share-A-Gift collects new clothing and toys, gently used toys and stuffed animals for distribution to the children of these families. Opportunities to clean and sort toys, wash stuffed animals and gussie-up gently-loved dolls begin in November. There are also opportunities to work at the distribution location, helping parents choose gifts for their children, translating for non-English speaking parents and wrapping gifts. Contact Kay Lathrop or Bonnie Strand.

Support for UMCOR

The United Methodist Committee on Relief, UMCOR, is often one of the first agencies on the scene of disasters, and one of the last to leave. UMCOR manages United Methodist relief projects all over the world. We support the work of UMCOR not only through monetary donations, but also by periodically providing Health Kits, Sewing Kits, School Kits and mission teams.

Christmas Stockings

This is a once/year opportunity to contribute to a special holiday "extra giving" fund for Yema Luhahi, our Covenant Missionary in Kenya. Look for the stockings and Christmas cards between church services throughout December.

Local Mission "Trips"

In addition to meeting needs in locations far from home, needs of local agencies are great as well. In 2006, Mountain View offered a week-long summer set of opportunities to serve locally, and plans to continue these opportunities in the fall and spring.

Bread for the World

Letter-writing in support of the work of Bread for the World has coincided with Peace with Justice Sunday in 2005 and 2006. Bread for the World is a Christian organization focusing on hunger relief worldwide.

Christ's Carousel (children through Grade 5), Crossfyre (youth), United Methodist Women and United Methodist Men

All of these age and/or gender-specific groups conduct outreach activities. Leaders within these groups can provide current information.

Worship Lifting Up Christian Work in the World

Outreach activities are highlighted each year in worship opportunities such as One Great Hour of Sharing (benefiting UMCOR), Peace with Justice Sunday and Mission Sunday.

And Many More. Following are some of the other Outreach programs being done by members of Mountain View United Methodist Church. The list below is not all-inclusive, as our members continually find new ways to serve their community and the world.

• Sunday Forums which explore particular social issues.
• Letter-writing campaigns.
• Work days at Wesley Foundation.
• Recycling at church.
• Mission studies.
• Craft sales to the El Salvador People of Hope program
• Church World Service: CropWalk and Blanket Sunday.
• Church lawn Peace Pole; Peace Camp for 5th and 6th graders.

Additional volunteers are always needed, and are most welcome. If interested, please contact the church office. Phone: 303-494-5025.

E-mail: mountainviewumc@mtview.org