Special Easter Offering: LEAF

Dear Friends,

Last week a father called the church needing food and clothes for his two daughters. He is working with Family Support Center to establish long term access to resources. But in the meantime, his children are hungry and in need of  some clothes.  He asked for a gift card to Fred Meyer and we were able to provide it through our Leaf Fund.

In February, a young woman called looking for rental assistance. She was about to be evicted and plunged into homelessness with her cat. About a year ago she experienced homelessness for about six weeks and was desperate to avoid that situation again. She needed some short-term assistance to prevent eviction while she worked on long term help.

Over the summer, a pregnant woman with a two year old child called and asked us to help her pay for a few nights at a local motel. Family Support Center  arranged for her to receive housing assistance from the state, but her new home would not be ready for a week. She didn’t have anywhere to go, with her daughter, until her new house was ready. We were able to help keep her and her child off of the streets until they moved into their permanent residence.

Our LEAF Fund, (Local Emergency Assistance Fund) is able to help in situations when many other organizations are not. We do not provide long term help, but we are nimble, and able to respond to emergency situations and help people avoid immediate and sometimes catastrophic consequences.  We often help people with gas money so they can start a new job and get to work until their first paycheck. We provide temporary assistance with housing funds. We have put minutes on cell phones so people can make phone calls to look for work. We have helped people avoid having their heat turned off during the winter months.

This fund is supported entirely through the generosity of this congregation.  Time and again, I watch as LEAF gives people a second chance and the hope of a new start.  Once, after putting just $50 worth of minutes on a woman’s cell phone, she broke down crying because that act of kindness gave her hope that she might be able to turn her life around.  

This Easter, we are taking a special Easter offering to support LEAF. Just as Jesus’ resurrection is a sign of hope and new life, small acts of generosity and kindness can point to the promise of new opportunities and fresh starts.  

I encourage you to consider a gift to the LEAF Fund this Easter as extra mile giving.  Your regular pledges and offerings support the infrastructure that allows the LEAF Fund to operate and enables every single dollar donated to LEAF to return back into the community as assistance.

On Easter Sunday, we will have special offering envelopes with butterflies, to signify the transformation that LEAF can facilitate in people’s lives.  Placing money in these special envelopes will designate your gift to go to the LEAF account.  You can also give online at: https://fumcoly.org/give. Choose LEAF from the drop down account menu. Easter is not the only opportunity to give to LEAF. You can always designate money to this fund. But we ask that you prayerfully consider a special contribution this Easter and give someone hope and the chance at new life!

With resurrection joy,
Pastor Heather