2024 Easter Appeal
Supporting Mission Partners Across the World
Dear HUMC Members and Friends,
The Easter season is full of hope and we ask you to please take a moment and reflect on the significance of Christ’s resurrection and its significance to your Christian faith. The Missions Committee has selected five very deserving organizations to be the recipients of our Easter Appeal. Please consider sharing your blessings with those who will greatly benefit from your gifts. They are:
Bridge Communities Through the help of its program partners and supporters Bridge Communities provides free transitional housing to 137 homeless DuPage County families each year. During the two years each family spends in the program, they are able to save money, learn budgeting skills and obtain better employment, so they can live self sufficiently once they graduate. The transitional housing program provides apartments, supportive services and a stable environment to the homeless families who are working to improve or develop the skills necessary to live independently. Bridge works with local faith-based and community action groups that provide mentors and essential financial support. Bridge provides professional case management, education, tutoring, career counseling, coaching and donated automobiles.
Heifer International has been working for 78 years with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. Its gifts of livestock and training bring nutritious food to tables that had been empty, send children to school who never thought they would learn to read, and transform struggling farmers into small business owners. A cornerstone of the program is that a family that receives an animal is expected to give its first female offspring to another family and to share the training it received. Currently Heifer is working with farmers and communities in 21 countries as they mobilize and envision their futures, provide training so they can improve the quantity and quality of the goods they produce, and connections to market to increase sales and incomes. These efforts link farmers to technologies to improve production and help them manage and scale their businesses, provide targeted financial support to farmers, and facilitate values-based partnerships that focus on social, environmental, and financial returns to assist growth and scaling of businesses.
UMCOR The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) brings God’s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by war, conflict or natural disaster. UMCOR provides humanitarian relief and disaster response to people in more than 80 countries, including the United States. UMCOR provides survivors not only temporary relief, but also long-term education, training and support.
JUST of DuPage The goal of JUST of DuPage (Justice, Understanding, Service and Teaching) is to meet the needs of the DuPage County Jail inmates and their families. Since 1986 JUST has been a key resource providing programs focused on spiritual enrichment using staff and volunteer chaplains, addiction recovery support, education and vocational programs and reentry and life skills. JUST’s staff of nine and more than 125 volunteers strive to share God’s love with the inmates to empower them to make positive changes in their lives. The organization is considered a valuable resource by the Sheriff’s Department.
Missionary in Liberia HUMC continues to sponsor Helen Roberts-Evans, who is serving as Director of the Department of General Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church in Liberia. She manages resources for teacher training, scholarships, renovation and repair of school buildings and new school construction. She is a native of Liberia, but grew up in the Chicago area, and is a product of the Northern Illinois Conference.
Help us share the Easter message of hope and inspiration. Join the struggle against hunger, poverty, violence and disease at home and around the world and include these organizations in your prayers and gifts.
DONATION OPTIONS
May the true hope that Easter brings be in your heart as you consider supporting these Mission projects that are a part of our commitment to Living the Beatitudes this year. Donations may be mailed to the church office with “Easter Appeal” noted in the memo, or please visit our website through the button below to donate directly and safely online.
Sandy Usher on behalf of the HUMC Missions Committee
