Contact Aug 2025

Carlos Ramirez Director of Communications

Communications Ministry Staff

Jena Barber Editor of Publications

Andrew Himes Multimedia and Web Ministry

Publication Credits

Cover photo and feature graphics: Deposit Photos & Jena Barber

Stories and layout by Jena Barber (unless otherwise noted)

The Contact, a publication of the OKUMC Connection (USPS 954-500) is published monthly by The Oklahoma Conference of The United Methodist Church, 1501 NW 24th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73106. Periodical postage paid at Oklahoma City, OK.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to “The Contact OKUMC”, 1501 NW 24th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73106.

from the editor

Honestly, I don’t know how parents do it these days. For that matter, I don’t know how teachers do it. If we’re being honest - and I think I can be honest with you - I don’t know how kids do it.

Schedules are fuller, days are busier, expectations are higher, stakes are more dire. College is expensive.

Add to that the competitive nature of seemingly everything, the upheaval in the government, and - gasp! - cell phones being taken away!

I jest, but I honestly don’t think I could send my kids to school in today’s world without their phones. What happens if someone kidnaps them between classes? What if they get injured, alone, in the bathroom and need to call emergency services? What if I need to tell them something?

When I think of how hard my mom had it, raising me in a home in the middle of nowhere, without even a landline until I was in fourth grade, just expecting that I would get home okay on the bus, I can understand why we have generational anxiety.

When I was in kindergarten, I fell asleep on the bus on the way to school, and the bus driver had to wake me up and drive me back to the school from the bus barn. Had I a cell phone, it would have been on Facebook before the second bell rang. Sometimes, walking to school, we would be chased by a neighbor’s dog. I don’t remember crosswalks being a thing when I was a kid. It was “every kid for herself” in Clarksville, Arkansas.

I won’t tell you the nickname an eighth-

grade boy made up for me when I was in fifth grade, but I will tell you it was humiliating and would today be considered sexual harassment. I still think about that humiliation, and I am decades older.

I’m not in the camp of those who extoll the virtues of the past. “Back in my day, we drank out of the water hose and ate botulism for breakfast and got run over by cars and we liked it!”

I’m grateful for the digital tether that tells me my child is okay. Adam Walsh’s disappearance and death put the fear of God into my mom, and into me.

I know phones are a nuisance, and I know it’s probably impossible to teach kids who are actively paying attention to a handheld dopamine delivery system instead of the teacher.

But I’m pretty sure teachers were getting savvy and learning how to work withrather than against - cell phone use in schools. This new rule is going to make some people happy and others anxious, while others won’t care as long as they reach the next level on their game app.

For me, I have to remember that having faith, a necessary component of good mental health, also extends to teachers, leaders, bus drivers, lunch ladies, and our kids.

Have a great school year. We’ll all be praying for the parents and kids who are living through the Great Phone Famine of 2025.

Back to School Congregations serving communities

How Churches Help

Everything seems to kick into high gear when it’s time for school to restart. Suddenly, parents are scanning the aisles of stores to find the right notebooks, those specific markers, a perfect backpack. Commuters are adjusting their routes for back-to-school traffic and bus routes. College students are moving into dorms, and high schoolers are picking up schedules and mapping out their classes. Teachers are setting up classrooms, librarians are building book displays, staff are spiffing up buildings and planning menus. All of these tasks are in service of the education of young people. Kids across the country are excited about - or maybe dreading - this shiny new year. In Oklahoma, a few extra complications are in evidence. The state has recently ranked last in education. And it ranks sixth in poverty. These numbers indicate that many children in the state have needs that outstrip the capacity for families - and generally underpaid and under-resourced teachers - to help.

United Methodist congregations across the state have heeded that call and are working in their communities to help in many ways. Some churches host school supply drives and block parties, giving out haircuts, school clothes, backpacks, and more. Others collect items for area nonprofits geared toward young people. Still others provide scholarships for students or pay students’ lunch debt. Others gather to bless backpacks and pray for children heading back to school. Some host or serve in after-school programs, child care centers, and special needs ministries. Others ensure children have snack packs for the weekend.

First UMC in OKC hosted a back-to-school block party featuring a water slide, bounce houses, face painting, music, food, and more. Submitted photo.

We’ve gathered some great ideas that we mined from stories in Oklahoma churches. If you’re looking for a way to serve children in your community, check out these examples.

Back to School Bash

Several churches across the state host back-to-school events. The biggest is probably the Back to School Bash. This takes space, funding, and lots of volunteers! Churches can get creative with school supplies, haircuts, school clothes and shoes, dental advice, pony rides, bounce houses, rock climbing walls, bicycle obstacle courses, food, and more. This event fosters sociability with area families, offers much-needed goods

and services, and helps people see the church as a center of the community. Its very existence is a bold statement to the community: We are here, we love you, and we’re a lot of fun!

University UMC in Tulsa hosts an ice cream social, while First UMC in OKC hosts a block party.

School Supply Drive

These churches know the value of learning, and they are there to help! They collect notebooks, pencils, tissues, dry erase markers, art supplies, and all the other items on those ever-growing lists. We’re not saying teachers are asking too much; we know they’re underfunded and have traditionally paid for many supplies out of their own pockets. But as budgets continue to grow leaner, the lists grow longer.

for one another. Good Shepherd UMC partnered with local teachers by collecting items the teachers requested, then distributing those donations.

Blessing of the Backpacks

Rev. John Hiller offers a back-to-school blessing at Durant UMC. Photo by Matt Swearingen.

Congregations collect supplies and deliver them - either to a specific partner school or to an organization in the community. These hard workers don’t often see the fruits of their labor in person, but they can rest easy knowing students and teachers have what they need to learn and grow throughout the school year. Collecting school supplies doesn’t just help the recipients! Congregations that come together for a common good grow stronger in their faith and in their affinity

These days, going to school is fraught with all sorts of unknowns. From bullying to tornadoes to acts of human cruelty, children are faced with more than just long division or conjugating verbs. Knowing someone - especially a whole church family of someones - is praying for them can give them peace of mind as they head back to the classroom. Churches schedule a date for the blessing and invite students to bring their backpacks to the church - or another location - for a blessing. Generally, the blessing comes with a laminated tag reminding the child that the backpack has been prayed over and that they’re loved by the people of the church.

This is an opportunity for congregants to get to know the children for whom they’re praying, and it reminds the children - and all who see the tag - that the children have a loving support network at their church home.

Durant UMC has a back-to-school blessing, while St. Stephens UMC in Norman offers a blessing of the backpacks, complete with backpack tags provided in partnership with Reconciling Ministries Network.

School-Year Programs

Some school partnerships last the entire school year, and each has its own set of needs and solutions.

Congregations support schools by providing reading partners, event volunteers, after-school support, crossing guards, lunch buddies, and more. In addition to volunteerism, churches also provide classroom supplies, sports equipment, snack foods, and more.

Church volunteers write grants, cut paper products, wrap gifts, collect donations from the community, and more.

Students build relationships with volunteers and are rewarded with caring adults who support them throughout the school year.

Whiz Kids programs across the state provide after-school programming.

Teacher Support

Teachers are beloved in our society, but are notoriously short on resources. From long days, often beginning before dawn and ending after everyone else has gone

home, with before- and after-school duties, 20-minute lunches, and work they have to take home, one resource teachers are lacking is time.

Congregations have come alongside those teachers to offer assistance in any way they can. Whether it’s providing a meal or assisting with lesson preparation, church volunteers are happy to help.

It takes training, background checks, and a lot of planning to get support into classrooms, so congregations seeking to support teachers should definitely plan ahead and ask permission.

One notable example is New Hope UMC in Oklahoma City, where volunteers provide first-day-of-school breakfasts for teachers and staff at two elementary schools. They also offer dinners for teachers during parent-teacher conferences. This is on top of New Hope’s alreadyrobust Whiz Kids after-school program and their plans for an October pumpkin patch.

A dozen “Treats and Prayer Baskets” deeply loaded with protein-rich snacks for teachers, administrators and staff were delivered on the first day of school by volunteers from the Seminole First United Methodist Church. Prayer requests dropped into in an attached side box picked up a few days later enable the church to provide specific prayers throughout the school year. Woven baskets were delivered to public school districts of Seminole, Varnum, Strothers, Bowlegs, New Lima and private charter The Academy Of Seminole. Photo by Rebecca Kennedy.

Partnering with your local school

Top tips for making school-church partnerships work

All schools - particularly Title I schools - benefit from partnerships with local churches. If you’d like to partner with an area school, we have a few tips! We asked Rev. Marla Lobo, director of Oklahoma’s Project Transformation, for ideas. She shared her thoughts.

Ask the school!

The best way to find out how to support a local school is to ask what they need, and then figure out which need you can fill and how to fill it. Lobo suggests starting out by requesting an appointment with the school principal.

Offer some examples.

Some schools need lots of support, but they aren’t sure what they can ask for - or what your church’s capacity is to help with. Lobo recently collected some ideas.

• Provide playground equipment - soccer goals, balls.

• Donate a copier or other office machine.

• Serve as reading buddies / tutoring help during school time.

• Provide meals for teachers for in-service and back to school nights.

• Offer special gifts. One idea is Root beer floats for teachers labeled, “We’re ROOTing for you!”

• Refill classroom supplies for teachers in January (tissues, wipes, etc. The school can provide a list).

• Offer healthy snacks and small bottles of water for kids during state testing.

• Hand out popsicles or other treats to celebrate the end of state testing.

• Sponsor a school event or competition, like prizes for an art competition.

• Provide some equipment for a specials classroom. Consider the example of percussion instruments.

• Serve as the confidential go-to for the needs of a child (shoes, socks, etc.).

• Clean up an outdoor or indoor space.

• Purchase supplies such as washable blankets and ice packs for school nurse. Become a village.

It takes a village to raise one child; it takes a metropolis to raise an entire school full of them. Your congregation will need a plan to become a village. Ask for volunteers. Get those volunteers trained and, if needed, background checked.

Follow through.

Before you make a promise to a child, make sure you have a backup plan. Keep track of what volunteers are doing and check in regularly with a school representative to ensure they’re still able to use the goods and/or services you’re providing.

Project Transformation: Beyond Summer

by Rev. Marla Lobo

Project Transformation Oklahoma (PTOK) is set to begin a pilot of PT AfterSchool to reach more Oklahoma elementary children who are behind in their reading. By adapting PTOK’s successful summer program, PT AfterSchool intends to support the needs of children through a once-a-week after school literacy program hosted in UMC churches and staffed by volunteers. Bartlesville First UMC, Duncan First UMC, and Wilburton First UMC have been selected as PT AfterSchool pilot loca-

tions for the 2025-2026 school year.

In addition to serving children, PT AfterSchool host churches can build relationships with parents and develop new partnerships with volunteers in their community. The mission of Project Transformation is to transform communities through purposeful relationships. This new program increases the potential of PT AfterSchool to help children and assist churches in developing partnerships that transform communities throughout Oklahoma!

Leading LAITY

by Sharri Hiller

As Lay people in the United Methodist Church, we are called to witness to others by our Christ-like examples of everyday living. We are also called to be in unity and partnership with the clergy.

I would like you to think of your time in the United Methodist church. Have you had more than four pastors during your time in your current church?

I would suspect if you have been at your current church for more than twenty years, you have had probably at least four pastors in that time frame, maybe even more.

The UMC uses an itinerant system. The Bishop and the cabinet decide who is going to be the pastor of your local church. Your local church is asked every year, “How is it going?” “What ministries are you doing at your church?” “What are you looking for in a pastor?” Love it. Hate it. It is a big part of what makes us United Methodist.

I’ll say it, there are times that we as the laity in the local church are not initially happy with the new clergy we are sent. When this happens, it is best that laity partner with that clergy, find common ground, and make ministry happen.

I say all this to make this point: In the UMC, it is the laity that is the constant at the local church. It is laity’s role in the local church to partner with the clergy who is sent to you to make ministry happen in your setting.

As laity in our local church, we outnumber the clergy that are assigned to our church. How do you help with discipleship making in your local church? The clergy can’t, and don’t want, to do the disciple making all on

their own.

Do you sing in the choir? Read scripture during worship? Prepare the juice and bread for communion? Teach Sunday School or a weekly Bible study? Go to camp with children and youth? Lead the youth group? Run the food pantry? Run the clothes closet? Invite people to church? Bring food to the potlucks? Wash the dish towels after the potluck? Tithe faithfully? All these activities are part of discipleship making.

We help make disciples when we grow as disciples, and because of that growth we help others grow in Christ. We do this work in our local church many times without even thinking about it.

Paragraph 126 in the Book Of Discipline tells us the ministry of the clergy and the laity have the same heart, Christ’s ministry of outreaching love. “All Christians are called through their baptism to this ministry of servanthood.”

As lay members, we are not exempt from sharing the love of Christ to those around us. We too, just like our clergy partners, are called to carry out the Great Commission as stated in Matthew 28:18-20 which says:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Lay ministry is just as important as ordained ministry; it is just different. I heard it said recently that “the

church” has created a passive model of discipleship. We as the laity have been content to let the “paid professionals” do the work. It is not supposed to be that way. Laity need clergy, and the clergy need laity.

Why is this important? I believe Romans 12:4-6 pretty much sum it up. This is from the Message paraphrase:

“In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or

cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”

What part of the body is Christ calling you to be?

Join the movement Train as a lay servant

Upcoming Lay Servant Trainings

Lay Speaker Boot Camp. First Saturday of August, September, October and November at Stroud UMC. Click here to register!

• September 13, 2025 - North Central District training. Enid-New Hope UMC. Download the brochure here, online registration available here!

• September 13, 2025 - Northeast District Training, Vinita UMC. More information to come soon.

• September 20, 2025 - Southeast District Training, Ada. Download the brochure for information and registration!

• September 27, 2025 - Central District training, Piedmont UMC, Download the brochure for more information, or click here to register!

• September 27, 2025 - West District Training, Weatherford. Click here for more information!

Classes may be taken for credit at any time at BeADisciple.com.

What laity means to me

by Rev. Carlos Ramirez

In January of 2023, I was appointed to OKC Southern Hills United Methodist Church (SHUMC). While the circumstances of the appointment are not necessary, it is sufficient to say that midyear appointments are not usual, and six months earlier I had been appointed as the Associate Director for Connectional Ministries on Church Revitalization.

Upon arrival, it was clear to me that the laity of this church was outstanding. Every Monday laity gathered to prepare a meal to be distributed on Tuesday to people who experience homelessness. On Tuesday they would gather, pack up the trailer with everything needed: tables, benches, silverware, containers, water, food and take it, first to the stockyards and when they were asked not to go there anymore, to Exchange Baptist Church in OKC. The Southern Hills Outreach Foundation does not only work on Mondays and Tuesdays; this ministry is a week-long process. Stores in the area donate food to the Foundation and those donations need to be picked up on different days. There is an ongoing collection of different items: toiletries, clothing, shoes, jackets, and more.

Sparking collaborations

The work of the laity at SHUMC through the Foundation sparked the collaboration with other agencies that arrive on certain Tuesdays to provide services to people. On Wednesdays, SHUMC hosts Whiz Kids. Whiz Kids is an literacy after school program. They partner with Southern Hills

Elementary School.

Also on Wednesdays there is a community dinner (all invited!), and children and youth activities as well as adult Bible studies. If that is not your “thing,” you can stay in the fellowship hall and play tabletop games. Every fall, the church’s parking lot is filled with pumpkins. The pumpkin patch serves as a fundraiser to support the ministries with children and youth. All of this activity is on top of Sunday morning worship, camps, mission trips, trunk or treat, Easter and Christmas celebrations, in other words, “regular” church work.

A hard season

Also in 2023, in April, my wife was diagnosed with stage three cancer. Needless to say, it was a very hard season for our family. When I was appointed to SHUMC, I saw myself as the person who God had entrusted to be the chief proclaimer of Jesus’ love and care.

I WAS WRONG!

SHUMC embraced my family and me and we felt God’s love and care through them. It was the laity of SHUMC who filled my heart with hope. I always felt Jesus’ presence when I was around them. We also felt the support and care from McFarlin UMC, where my wife is appointed.

At every step

At every step of my ministry in Oklahoma, the laity of this Conference has been a blessing to me - and to my family. When I was appointed in Heavener and Howe, the laity there helped me to know what it means

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to be a pastor in the USA. The Howe congregation suffered through my sermons as I learned how to preach in a different language and to better connect with them. At Elk City UMC, the laity supported us as young pastors and young parents. Elk City was a season of growth and maturity for me. Elk City UMC is a hard working congregation with many ministries (now even the “central” for the West District hub). They’re always innovating with incredible lay leadership.

May God use you as a bridge maker. Photo by Depositphotos.com.

Nothing but grateful I am nothing but grateful to the laity of the Conference. I am grateful for their care, commitment, generosity and faithfulness. I want to use this article to thank the laity of our conference for all your hard work. I know, at times, the task feels overwhelming and even daunting: proclaim Jesus to a culture that has grown

“We are grateful and glad.”

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detached from the Church. Do not despair nor stop your work. Keep at it! May you feel God’s strength and make you sore like an eagle. If you are on the “fence” or you have not gotten involved yet, I will say to you, there is always something to be done… a ministry that needs your help or a ministry that could be started based on the needs of your mission field.

Bridge Makers

There is a person in your local community that needs to hear about Jesus and his love. There is someone in your community that is broken hearted, alone, angry, bitter, or filled with cynicism, or wandering without purpose. Maybe you can be the person who Jesus uses so that those whose heart is aching (for whatever reason), can feel

loved, cared for, and listened. We need to build so many bridges, may God use you as a bridge maker.

Thank you for your service, thank you for all you do in the name of Jesus. Trust me, it does not go unnoticed. What you do matters. Keep at it! If you are on the sidelines… get in the game! The harvest is plenty!

What Lay People Can Do

This extremely dense list comes from 2024 local church reports on how they are living Dream 3 - Communities Impacting Poverty. Things might well have changed, and you can bet the list is now longer, but it gives you an idea of the power and commitment of laity in the Oklahoma Conference of The United Methodist Church.

ALFALFA We support the Carnegie Food Pantry with financial and physical assistance. We provide financial assistance to a disabled family in our community.

ALINE The church, as well as individual members, has always made it a mission to help those in the community impacted by poverty or disaster. As a small community, we are more aware of the needs of our neighbors.

ALTUS GRACE Hands and Feet. Blessing Box. Partner with local organizations. Apply for grants to broaden and strengthen mission.

ALTUS HIGHLAND HEIGHTS Blessing Box upkeep. We have a fund for people coming to the church needing assistance for miscellaneous reasons, medicines, diapers, gasoline, etc. UMW donates to several charities for Christmas gifts of food, clothing, toys, etc.

ALVA FIRST Alva FUMC supports the local food bank as well as the College food bank. Alva FUMC offers a free Thanksgiving dinner to the community. The church also offers a free meal each Wednesday night during the school year. The church has a benevolence fund used to support those in need. UWF has a laundry/coin ministry. The newly developed outreach committee will also look at needs in the community as well.

ANADARKO FIRST Monday Meals Programs and Community Blessing Box

ANADARKO ST PAUL Participated in a project of which the church saved quarters and

would go to the laundromat and put quarters in the machines for customers to wash and dry clothes. We also had members to personally purchase hats and gloves for the winter months for the homeless. the church passed out dinners to the homeless. Participated with other churches in the town wide Thanksgiving Dinner. We are in the planning stage of discussing projects for the coming year

APACHE Our food pantry serves 50 to 60 families twice a month and plans to continue through coming years.

ARLINGTON We provide food items for the food pantry and help those in need whenever we can.

BARTLESVILLE FIRST We have heavily supported the Jane Phillips Elementary School on teh westside of town. We participate iin all of their fundraising events, tutor thaie youth, Support their Santa's Shop and help provide a Christmas gift for each student. We also feed the hungry two days a mont through the Agape Mission and collct foodstuffs for teh local Concern food pantry.

BARTLESVILLE OAK PARK We work with other Churches.

BEGGS We had 2 members who recently attended the Communities Impacting Poverty training, and have brought back several new ideas, energy and visions for expanding the Food Pantry and Community Needs Closet. We intend on aligning with local food banks to increase access to fresh foods and nutritional

information. We have created a committee dedicated to furthering these goals.

BOKOSHE We remodeled a broken down mobile home with our money and our labor.

BRISTOW We are actively participating with the Bristow Social Services organization.

BROKEN ARROW ST STEPHEN'S Continue to pursue Blessing Boxes to feed needy families. Maintain current programs for child ministry, and Broken Arrow Neighbors, Meals on Wheels, and Set Free to Serve.

CACHE As addressed in previous responses, we are directing a lot of our efforts to local people that need help with food and other assistance. We want to support programs for the homeless shelter in Lawton and provide continual replenishing of food to our local blessing box.

CALUMET Food bank/pantry and vacation bible school bags for the homeless. Two of our youngest members (7yrs) made a point to provide a bag for some of the homeless they saw in the community.

CANTON Collect for the food bank

CAPRON We help the battered women's shelter when the need for donation items are requested, also donating to the local food bank with money and donated items.

CASHION Food Bank

CHANDLER Our church continues to provide financial support as well as actively serving those in need at the local food pantry. Our church is providing leadership through a member with the Bridges out of Poverty program. We are looking at the possibility of sponsoring a meal or assisting with the graduation for this program.

CHECOTAH Our church's strength has been serving our community for more than 40 years through our Mission thrift store and food pantry. We hope to not just serve the community but also hope to nourish individuals to grow themselves and help them get out of poverty.

CHEYENNE VALLEY We support a new crisis

ministry in our community.

CHICKASHA EPWORTH Soup Kitchen planning, teams, and sponsored large funding event for Soup Kitchen. Day School

CHOCTAW Our church works closely with the Eastern Oklahoma County Resource Center. It provides food, utility assistance, & Christmas gifts. We have members who work the food pantry weekly and several families adopt another family at Christmas time. We also have an annual Angel Tree where we provide gifts to children whose has a family member who is incarcerated. Increase our amount we give to EOCRC as well as members participating in the food pantry.

CLAREMORE GRACE Tornado relief efforts, continuing to serve the community with our food pantry and our mobile food pantry. Grace UMC has the only mobile food pantry/food truck in northeast Oklahoma.

CLEVELAND Maintaining a Blessing Box outside our Church that is filled each day with food for those who are in need.

CLINTON We participate in the Backpack Drive, Second Sunday Servants, Alms Fund, Christmas Connection, & leftover meals from church events go to the Mission House & women's shelter

COGAR UMC Cogar offers community assistance as needed. We donate to Judy's Kitchen. We adopt a family at Christmas.

COLBERT Providing school supplies to the local schools for students that don't have what they need. Donate to the Chamber of Commerce Coat Drive. We donated supplies for New Day Camp.

COLLINSVILLE MEADOWCREEK Locally-through almsgiving and through our blessing boxes and with cold weather gloves and hats, in coordination with our ministerial alliance for Thanksgiving baskets and school supplies, and in assistance with outside agency through our providing hundreds of dollars a month of pet food to Mission on Main street.

COOKSON 1) Mable City School District - providing clothing. 2) Cookson Hills

Indigenouse Center - supporting their mission.

3) NSU Wesley Foundation - providing lunch and food pantry items.

CORDELL we have committed a discretionally fund for pastor and to monthly support of ministerial alliance.

COURTNEY The church in in poverty. They help volunteer at Ringling UMC's food pantry.

COWETA Our warmth drive ( coats, hats, gloves, blankets, etc.) for those in need, Help with school supplies and children clothing needs, Help with paying for services like household laundry Giving to the food bank on a regular basis

CRESCENT FIRST We have a Blessing Box located outside our church with food and hygiene products.

CUSHING We serve a meal and supply a blessing box. We also participate with LOVE INC with the community.

CUSTER CITY Recognize we have a lot of poverty in our community

DEPEW We make donations to the angel tree and community food bank.

DEWEY Pastor Tari and her husband attended the Poverty Workshop on September 22, 2024. Our church hosts the Back to School Bash and Christmas Outreach for less fortunate members of our community. We also partner with LCCO of Tulsa to distribute food.

DOW Have members that plan on attending training in McAlester. In pass we have had individual members that actively helped with food drives. Dow UMC is ready to help individual families when a need is identified. Plan is to start a food drive and work with local food banks to help in distribution of donations.

DRUMMOND SALEM We have several members of the church attending the workshop dealing with poverty; we will continue to work to alleviate food insecurities in our community, we will work with those in need through the Thrift Store, and when necessary use the Pastor's Discretionary Fund

to provide direct aid when needed.

DRUMRIGHT We have our diapers and wipes drive for Lent, we have our Blessing Box, we host our Back to School Drive that provides school supplies. We donate to our local food pantry. We had a movie night where we opened it to the community and we fed families food and provided them with a fun evening with a movie, . We also sponsor two angels from our angel tree every Christmas.

DUNCAN FIRST Blessing Box Food Ministry "Fill Phil" basket each month. An additional food ministry. Possible shower ministry.

DUNCAN ST PAUL'S We support Christians Concerned and participate in the Blessing Box.

DURANT FIRST We support missions in our community such as Feeding Hope and Meals on Wheels. We have organized a community educational program for homelessness in our community. One of our mission leaders has been instrumental in helping a homeless food meal program build a new permanent facility for our community. We had members attend the training at Annual Conference and we will have people attend the regional training as well.

EDEN CHAPEL EC has supported and will continue to support several missions (Our Daily Bread, for example) that help those in poverty in our area. In the next year, we will also likely be participating in a local effort to provide food backpacks to children during the school year and summer.

EDGEWOOD We provide financial support through Ministerial alliance and through need expressed through local school.

EDMOND ACTS 2 We financially support the YMCA which feeds any hungry children weekly in the city of Edmond. We also support Edmond Mobile Meals who make and deliver meals to seniors. We support title one schools. We offer financial assistance to any member of our congregation who is in need. We provide financial assistance for camp or any other activity our church engages in that involves a fee. We give to the Food Bank and Project 66.

We support the Edmond Hope Center.

EDMOND CONNECT Connect Church has partnered with the Lazarus Community. The Lazarus Community is helping people transition out of homelessness. We regularly provide meals for those who are in need. We also volunteer and take up collections of clothes, hygiene items, and many other items. Our partnership with the Lazarus community is a significant way we are impacting poverty in our community.

EDMOND FIRST Not sure we got the memo on the 5 dreams, but that's all in a day's work for us Christians!

EL RENO ELLISON AVE Outreach ministry, by focusing on children in the community to be welcomed and involved at the church, responding to individual and organizational requests.

ELK CITY To make a meaningful impact, we have undertaken several initiatives: 1. Food Security Programs: We have supported local efforts to combat food insecurity through our Thrift Store, which provides affordable household items and clothing, with proceeds contributing to organizations like Meals on Wheels. Additionally, we have organized food drives and partnered with local food banks to provide essential supplies to those in need. 2. Community Outreach Events: We have hosted various outreach events, such as Trunk or Treat, Christmas community baskets, and the Backpack Program, which aim to provide support and resources to families facing economic challenges. These events not only offer immediate relief but also help build connections and provide ongoing support. 3. Support for Local Organizations: Our church has been a strong supporter of HELP Inc., which assists individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. By partnering with organizations like HELP Inc., we contribute to a broader network of support for those in need. 4. Our church now supports the Care Portal and 111 Project. Our church helped launch the Care Portal in Beckham County. Looking ahead to the

coming year, we plan to expand our efforts to further address poverty in our community: 1. Enhanced Collaboration: We aim to strengthen our partnerships with local agencies and nonprofits to create more comprehensive support systems for those affected by poverty. This may include joint programs and initiatives that address multiple aspects of poverty. 2. Increased Volunteer Opportunities: We will offer more opportunities for congregational involvement in poverty alleviation efforts, encouraging members to actively participate in service projects, fundraisers, and advocacy work. 3. Targeted Outreach Initiatives: We will identify specific needs within our community and design targeted outreach efforts to address those needs more effectively, ensuring that our programs are responsive and impactful. Through these actions, we are committed to making a tangible difference in the fight against poverty and improving the quality of life for those in our community.

ELMER Continue to invite and welcome ALL people to our church, continue to help and support programs to help impact poverty in our community.

ENID CHRIST Christ church hosted a (workshop) on Communities Impacting Poverty on 9-15-24. Several members from Christ attended as well as others from North Central District and other areas. Significant information was presented as well as hand outs and literature. Discussions and review of the info presented will continue so that an appropriate plan can be developed and implemented.

ENID FIRST Described in other answers. We have not had time to address this educational opportunity. We had several members of our mission team attend the training and are waiting for opportunities to discuss future implications.

ENID NEW HOPE Work with Loaves and Fishes, New Day Camp, and Angel Tree.

ENID PEACE KOREAN The Food Pantry and Canned Food Drive.

EUFAULA Positively impacting poverty is a

vital part of the ministries of our church, as discussed in previous questions. We plan to continue to participate in all of the activities listed above.

FAIRFAX Contributed funds to Fairfax charities and those caring for local needy.

FAIRLAND We house and administer the backpack program for Fairland Public Schools and we have a blessing box on our church grounds. Also through our 5th Sunday poundings we have provided school supplies for those who do not have them, sweats and underwear for those who have accidents at school or do not have these items.

FAY We donate food to local food pantries and provide meals for senior citizens as well as shut-ins.

FITZHUGH We place all of our focus on God and His teachings and help those that aren't able to help themselves.

FORGAN We have 2 members that have attended the workshops on poverty.

FORT GIBSON We operate a year long local food pantry, give out Thanksgiving food baskets and participate in Project Noel giving gifts to families in need.

FORT TOWSON looking for way we can be more involved in dealing with poverty in our community.

FREDERICK We are sending people to the training event in Lawton.

GAGE We have provided housing for a homeless man, bought a front door for a womans home, provided food, and money to get a man back on his feet, helped pay rent and utilities for a family for a month, gave cash to help with expenses when their baby was prematurely born.

GARBER in the past we had a food pantry and clothes closet but no one utilized it

GEARY Our Angels Attic is a constant effort providing low cost items to the community. We are also involved with the local Ministerial Alliance and the local food pantry.

GLENCOE With Our Food Pantry

GLENPOOL LIVING WATER Our church's thrift store helps those in poverty get clothing and furniture.

GOODWELL We have continued to be actively involved in Loaves and Fishes in our community, and we will continue to do so.

GORE Continue monthly Food Pantry

GRAINOLA We provide financial support to those families in our community who need it. We support the Shidler Ministerial Alliance which also provides financial support to those in need. We support the local food pantry.

GUTHRIE FIRST Community meals with other churches. We support the teachers and support staff at the elementary school across the street. We also provide school supplies twice a year to the students of that school.

HARRAH We have a Blessing Box (Food for people that are in need)

HEALDTON Food ministry

HENNESSEY food bank

HENRYETTA The annual Thanksgiving dinner where the church provides over 250 meals free of charge to the community is a good example and will be continued.

HINTON Volunteer at the food bank, donated leftover items from rummage sale to the Mission House in Clinton OK that helps formerly incarcerated, homeless and battered men and women.

HITCHCOCK We pay for the meat for the Thanksgiving boxes that our local food bank hands out to families in need.

HOBART Benevolence and feeding ministries.

HOLDENVILLE We have a Blessing Box, we cooperate with our other local churches with a food pantry, we have a program where individuals can apply for various types of assistance.

HOMINY Blessing Bags, Community Breakfast, Clothes Closet, support Ministerial Alliance Helping Hand Fund

HUGO HERITAGE Attending workshop the conference is having in our state.yes Impacting

HULEN We contribute to the Walters and other food banks and help individual families in our communities who are in need. When we become aware we help with utility bills for low income and elderly families.

HUNTER there is a MA food closet and thanksgiving baskets

IDABEL The food pantry has been supported in the past and will continue to be supported. We have supplied lunches to children on summer break who normally would get breakfast and lunch at school

INOLA Hosting mobile food pantry; Monday free lunches; church had representatives attend the Conferences workshops on communities impacting poverty.

JEFFERSON we donate to 2 community foodbanks and ministerial alliance in both communities and donate to school weekend food program

JONES We currently help those who are struggling financially with utility and rental assistance as well as providing meals for homebound members of the community. In the spring we're planting a community garden to not only provide fresh produce for our mobile meals program but to have a community aspect and build relationships with our neighbors.

KELLYVILLE Our church is working with the Legacy Grant at the Conference as well as the DMST at our district level to bring our Love Wraps program up to date to assist with impacting poverty. Three members of our church went to the workshop Communities Impacting Poverty. Two members of our church are participating in the Healthy Church Zoom Meetings. We are working to rebuild relationships in the community and with our schools to identify true needs to be more effective in ministry.

KEOTA There are none currently planned, Mike is going to attend the Communities Impacting Poverty Workshop in McAlester.

KINGFISHER We continue to house the

Salvation Army and are now working with DHS as a place to meet and have the DHS Mobile Bus. We take responsibility to keep a blessing box in the community filled at the apartments and also participate in the Angel Tree for those with incarcerated parents. We have a connection with the school to receive the names of families that might benefit from a bag of food at Thanksgiving (Operation Thanksgiving) and contact each family, fill the bags, and deliver them each year. We help with Meals on Wheels and also collect items for the Food Banks in town. We are a part of the Care Portal to help families, and when we hear of a need, we try to meet it.

KINGSTON Expanded outreach for the current ministries. Plan to expand our food pantry and become a clearinghouse or information for those in need.

KREBS GRACE Currently nothing active. We have been involved in years past to provide aid when we can. If we know of a situation that we can help with we will then reach out to offer assistance. We understand that we live in a time and an area where property exists. We are not able do to the age of our congregation to do any physical work but if it is something when can do a a small donation of money we will do that.

KREMLIN We are partnering with the local school district to determine low income families and help where we can. Also Thursday community meals are by donation so anyone not able to pay is still able to eat.

LAWTON BETHEL We support our regional food pantry

LAWTON CENTENARY Monthly

neighborhood breakfast with clothes closet and showers. Assist with St. John's feeding program. Provide meals for Family Promise residents. Provide Thanksgiving and Christmas meals for low income families. Plans to do a neighborhood survey for needs.

LAWTON FIRST Continue with our Blessing Box Continue helping people in need pay their bill in accordance with church protocol and ability.

LAWTON HEIGHTS We have a Thrift Shop and Blessing Box. Two church members and Pastor Christy will be attending a poverty workshop on October 13th at Centenary in Lawton.

LAWTON NEW LIGHT Our church will invest more of its budget to help minority groups and neighbors who are marginalized, poor, and struggling. We will do our utmost to support them in finding stability, peace, and happiness.

LAWTON ST PAUL'S As stated before, we are working with a local elementary school in order to help meet their needs. We also help with Family Promise, St. John's Feeding, Salvation Army, and Hungry Hearts. We plan to continue with these ministries as well as reaching out to our surrounding community and assisting those impacted by poverty.

LAWTON WESLEY CHAPEL Helping hands ministry, donations to women’s shelters. Provision of school supplies and various charities.

LEXINGTON Our Church has been operating, with donations and volunteers, one of the best food pantries in a tri-county area for several years. The Church supplies sleeping bags, tents and non-perishables to the homeless, hand out gift cards' We serve a community wide Thanksgiving dinner. The Church will continue doing all these things next year.

LIGHTHOUSE We provide a Food Pantry for anyone in need, we have a Blessing Box outside for anyone in need, we have a free Wednesday Night Meals for anyone in the community, and we provide Christmas Baskets for anyone who is in need.

LINDSAY Our church provides a food pantry for needy families. We currently provide for approx 13-15 families on a monthly basis. We plan to continue as finances allow.

LOCUST GROVE Steven has been at Locust Grove for 5 months. We've hardly had time to discuss future plans for this.

LOST CREEK Operation Lunchbox: When the state declined the summer school lunch

program, Lost Creek ( Nathan McFee) had a vision to help fill this need and begin the mission which was very successful. With Nathan's vision and a host of volunteer's. It resulted in 12,730 meals being provided to families in our community. Community meals ( Joe Ball) Providing weekly community meal that averages 220/week. New day camp Angel tree mission Cookson Hills mission

LOYAL In our community we are working on food insecurity through the food bank and in feeding the Wednesday Night Kids we insure that they get at least one good meal each week with food sent home for siblings. Our church will also work with Kingfisher FUMC and Watonga UMC to facilitate a Bridges out of a Poverty meeting that will serve all of our communities.

MARIETTA Our Coat Ministry has partnered with the DHS to provide babies and toddlers with warm coats for the winter, food baskets, and helping with the angel tree and silver stars programs.

MARLOW We assist our community in several areas to lessen the financial burden individuals are facing these days. Our Blessing Box is stocked several times a week providing groceries to those in need. This is financed through the church and in-kind donations. We financially support the Regional Food Bank which maintains the Back Pack for Kids program providing weekend food for those in need. This is financed with proceeds from our Blessing Boutique, UMW, and in-kind donations. We provide Utility assistance to those who are unable to pay their monthly bills. This is financed by the church and in-kind donations. We have a liaison with the Marlow Good Sarmatians to assist where needed.

MCALESTER FIRST We currently have four members of our Church signed up to attend the Workshop on Communities Impacting Poverty. Our missions committee is working on a proposal to provide an emergency warming station for the homeless.

MCLOUD Collect food for local Food Pantry; 2 Diaper Drives (for local non-profit) to include

diapers, formula, and baby wipes.

MEEKER We provide food monthly for our local food pantry.

MIAMI Coat closet, food truck, back pack, benevolent care, blessing box, emergency food sacks, etc

MINCO Ministerial Alliance assisting those in need, apportionments, Senior Citizen meals to homebound and low income

MOORE FIRST We have opened a food pantry, and have received grants to grow it with more food options for those in need.

MOORE NEW LIFE Serving a Joe's addiction, collecting clothing, shoes, and food for our local schools, lunches of love (homeless feeding ministry), Church Under the Bridge, MOORELAND through our clothing ministry, alms, community food drive, community after school program

MORRIS Back packs for students with dietary needs, Christ cupboard-food for needy families, Clothes Closet - families in need, Being visible as providing needs to the community.

MORRISON Thrift shop and hygiene pantry

MOUNDS Mounds United Methodist continues to be committed to serving the community and epically those who are living at or below poverty level. We contribute to the towns annual fish fry whose proceeds are given back to those in need. We provide nonperishable food items to 20 school age children each week who otherwise may not have anything to eat over the weekend. In addition, our congregation provided a small gift to a local senior / disabled citizens apartment complex located in the center of town.

MULHALL Our pastor is very active in the Ministerial Alliance; meet weekly with local area ministers; meets often with fellow UMC clergy, and keeps current on ministerial helps and resources that are available and needed.

MUSKOGEE FIRST Backpaks - Food Pantry - We have offered our chapel to the Hispanic

community to hold services on Sunday morning. - Improve attendance and offer more ministerial opportunities for children's, youth and young adults

MUSKOGEE ST PAUL Bridges Out of Proverty, Project transformation and other outreach.

MUSKOGEE TRINITY We delivered meals to needy families. To do more of the same.

NEWCASTLE We have a food pantry, and a blessing box with free food in our parking lot. We also provide a Thanksgiving meal to our community for free.

NEWKIRK We have a giving box outside the church door. We also participate in the shoebox ministry of giving, Thanksgiving food baskets, Christmas gift boxes, Ponca City Friendship feast.

NICOMA PARK At our thrift shop we sell most items for 25 cents each, we refer to it as 'Charity with Dignity'. Families can come in and dress their families for very little money. However, we also are happy to help those who cannot pay even our low prices.

NOBLE We helped support payment of school lunches, support the local food cupboard, nursing home ministry, donations to Skyline, NSO and Tool Tyme and Women in Faith, hats for the homeless, gift cards for needy who need food. We will continue to partner with larger charities, and the local support we are currently provide.

NORMAN GOODRICH We assembled a team to help rehab homes for Habitat for Humanity, and also fed the entire group lunch. We have a free Care Closet where folks can come twice a month to get essentials that are not covered by government services.

NORMAN MCFARLIN Our food pantry provides about one-half million pounds of free food to families and persons. We support Food & Shelter for Friends ministry to homeless. We welcome homeless persons in worship. Our utilities assistance provides over $100,000 in bill-pay assistance annually. We have had teams work at Lazarus ministry

in the District. We partner with the UMC in Morogoro Tanzania and provide school lunches and also high school tuition for students there.

NORMAN ST STEPHEN'S This is an area in which SSUMC works hard. We have a Little Free Pantry that is monitored and refilled daily. We regularly cook and serve food at Food and Shelter for Friends. The October Roundtable event is an educational presentation on ways to abate homelessness in Norman. We continue to support the Norman Refugee Coalition that brings assistance, education, and friendship to refugees among us, and we are also a founding member of the Cleveland County Crop Walk.

OCHELATA food pantry

OKC CHURCH OF THE SERVANT Church of the Servant will be taking a special Christmas Eve Communion Service offering to donate to a local charity. We have also reestablished our Mission Team to begin to address the mission needs within our community - many of whom impact poverty.

OKC CORNERSTONE Meal on Wheels and Food Pantry

OKC CROWN HEIGHTS This church responds to mission opportunities with generosity and energy. We keep a monthly mission in front of the congregation, varying in ways of participating. This year we gave cards and candy to teachers at Putnam Heights Academy; we stocked Skyline's shelves in July and November; we cooked meals for NSO's Palo Duro, UCO's Campus Ministry, and Mobile Meals. In 2021, Crown Heights UMC helped set up apartments for Afghan refugees. Since then, we have stored secondhand household items and furniture. We give out these items to people who call the church office or members in need. This ministry requires space (which we have in abundance) and people willing to deliver furniture around town (which we also have in abundance).

OKC FIRST FC has a long-standing commitment to actively serving the needy. This has been expressed over the years through homeless ministries at FC (Friday Night Alive,

Homeless Breakfast, Clothing Closet, SnackPacks, Stockings for the Homeless) and has borne tremendous fruit in James Rork who has successfully escaped homelessness and is a faithful member of our church today. The ministries of our church helped James both spiritually and physically: to overcome despair and addictions, then with purchasing a car, getting a job(s), and finally moving into an apartment. He now works for our church as a custodian as well as a custodian at Tinker AFB.

The adult Sunday School is currently providing monthly financial support to a former church member who is a single mother with specialneeds child. In addition to the numerous downtown ministries to the needy that have been mentioned above, our church worships alongside people experiencing poverty every week. We share communion, we share meals, we share the gospel and we share financially. Most of all we help, as we did with James Rork, with encouragement - that they can overcome their circumstances and find hope for a brighter future starting with Jesus.

OKC KOREAN FIRST We have a ministry where we assist homeless people who walk through our doors. We also serve in Mongolia mission to help

OKC LAKESIDE Lakeside has a helping hands fund that use to help those in our community with various bills that they may need help paying - utilities, rent, or groceries. We have also continued to provide out Blessing box with food and personal hygiene items.

OKC MAYFAIR HEIGHTS Participation opportunities with our food bank, blessing box. Food Outside church 24/7, mobile meals, skyline * ice angels which travels to homeless settlements. Plans to further support homeless shelters.

OKC NEW HOPE New Hope does so much to impact poverty: 2nd Saturdays (feeding the homeless), Strengthening Families (providing a location for parents to interact with the stateremoved children and learn parenting skills, Whiz Kids, weekly stocked Blessings Box and Food Pantry.

OKC NICHOLS HILLS John Marshall High School food pantry; angel tree ministry; financial community assistance on request and approval

OKC PENN AVE Redemption Mission works to impact daily, those in our area who are living in poverty and struggling with homelessness. We feed 2 hot community meals each week, breakfast on Sundays, offer clothing to our entire community free of charge, and provide take home meals when we can. In addition we provide bus passes for transportation assistance.

OKC PUTNAM CITY We have reached out to our neighbors for decades. Our immediate neighbors most likely have marginalized income, and many rent homes and live in apartments. We have had great success with our events, but it has never been a pathway to attendance or membership. We have tried to encourage attendance, included paper invitations for guests to take home and every way that we can enourage them to join

OKC QUAIL SPRINGS Our Helping Hands Ministry and the involvement with the Elementary schools. It was too early in the year to help out with past due lunch balances, so we instead provided snacks to the Scissortail Elementary. Just this past Sunday Pastor Valerie read us a thank you card from the principal on what a difference that makes for the students.

OKC QUAYLE We have an ongoing outreach of giving away food. Our greenhouse works to provide fresh produce to the community. Our United Women in Faith advocate for marginalized women and children.

OKC SOUTHERN HILLS We have a homeless ministry that provides hot meals once a week on Tuesdays to those that are unhoused or just in need of a hot meal. We also have a Mobile Meals ministry. Additionally, our daycare serves children that have DHS childcare stipends. We also have an active Whiz Kids ministry as well as hosted Project Transformation over the summer. We plan on continuing these ministries next year but

are still discussing the continuation of Project Transformation due to staff and volunteer limitations.

OKC ST MATTHEW St. Matthew is excellent in helps ministries. Our TFAP program distributes between twelve thousand and twenty thousand pounds of food each month to families and individuals in need. Our Mobile Meals program is feeding about 150 individuals hot meals 3 times per week. Our Midweek Meal is feeding about 70 community members once a week 9 months out of the year. Our utility assistance programs helps to pay utility bills for families each year.

OKC SUNNY LANE Pantry that is open to the public in our zip code and by referral. We also have utility assistance as is the pantry

OKC VILLAGE Support of BritVille Food Pantry, PeriodOKC, and Diaper Ministry.

OKC WESLEY We provide food for home insecure neighbors, stock a blessing box, provide a meal every week to college students, and host a free monthly host breakfast for our neighbors. We also give money for groceries, gas, and utilities.

OKEMAH Through the food pantry and the rummage sale. This provides food and clothing to those in need.

OKTAHA We certainly understand the community and needs that it has with poverty and have put out a pantry box for anyone that needs food at anytime, just come take what food they need. It has went over well. That's why our food giveaways are so popular. There is such a need for food here in the community and we understand that.

OOLOGAH Dream 3 is what our Church does. OUMC is a leader in our community in focusing on dream 3.

ORLANDO 1. Summer School Free Lunch Program 2. Food Baskets at Thanksgiving and Christmas 3. Help with residents electric bills, car repairs, appliance needs etc. 4. We have continuous communication with the schools. They let us know when there are needs. 5. School Supplies - We bought the items on the

school supply list for any student who signed up that needed help purchasing those items. Notes were sent home through the Summer Lunch Program to let parents know we were offering to help. 6. Angel Tree - Last year we participated in the Angel Tree donations for families of grade school children. We plan to do this again. We plan to continue all of these things and do our best to meet the needs of any others when we are made aware of a need.

PAULS VALLEY Through the care portal assisted family in keeping children in the home by helping with utilities payment. Helping families with needs, Feeding families everyday with food in blessing box has to restocked every day Provide food to the Feed Pauls Valley program

PERKINS We have been serving the impoverished in our community for generations through our Food Bank and Neighborhood Ministries and will continue to do so for as long as we are able.

PERRY FIRST See programs mentioned above.

PIEDMONT There is not much poverty in Piedmont, so we leverage our relationships with other organizations. Each month we select a mission to support and go from there. We make sleep mats for people experiencing homelessness and hygiene kits that we give to Ice Angels or other groups. We collect food for the student pantry at UCO, and we will soon hold an event to teach other churches and our community to make the sleep mats.

PONCA CITY ALBRIGHT One member attended the “Day of Learning” prior to Annual Conference in May. Two members will participate in the follow-up “Communities Impacting Poverty Workshop,” Sep 15th, in Enid.

PONCA CITY FIRST We have met and continue to meet this goal head on thru the following programs: sack lunch program, Coryell Cupboard, Friendship Feast, Caring Fund, and Food Sack Sunday. We continue to offer special offerings as the need arises in our community.

PONCA CITY ST PAUL'S This past year we have taken our "Miles of Pennies" offering each month to distribute to a need through our Missions Committee. We participate monthly in Community feeding programs. We build ramps for disabled people who cannot afford to pay for this.

PORTER By responding to needs when known. We have previously paid the electric delinquency of a local disabled resident to get utilities turned back on.

POTEAU We have had several lpeople attend Bridges Out of Poverty training. We had two who attended the Communities Impacting Poverty workshop recently held. OUr church is one of the sponsors of the Getting Ahead class (Bridges program), and Pastor Susan is one of the facilitators. We had four folks attend the Bridges training that was offered at Carl Albert College earlier this year. Our dinners with Love and Blessing box are part of this effort to address poverty as well.

PRAGUE We have a food bank at our church and have the Harvest Dinner each year to provide backpack program for children in the community in need

PRAIRIE CHAPEL We provide non-perishable food for individuals and take food and financial support to food banks.

PRYOR Pryor Ministry Center: gathering of goods and/or money on one Sunday/month. Volunteers from our congregation help at the center anywhere they are needed.

PURCELL TRINITY We have scheduled a second "Free Haircut and Toiletry Day the first week in January 2025. We plan for this to be a regular service project - twice a year.. We continue to donate funds to the Dragon School Lunch Room program. This provides for students that fall between the cracks by paying off school lunch accounts where the parent/guardian doesn't have the necessary funds.. Providing funds to those who have financial needs with city utilities or travel assistance to get the traveler(s) to the next larger community.

QUAPAW We have reached out to Quapaw Public Schools to provide financial assistance to aid in the school backpack program to provide for lower income students at all grade levels and will continue to do that. Our Church will discuss providing school supplies for those who do not have them and clothing items for students in need.

QUINTON Members involved in obtaining and delivering food bags to Quinton elementary students on a weekly basis while in school. Several local churches work together to support this mission.

RED ROCK Food Pantry, Manna Bags, responding to community needs as they are brought to our attention.

ROSSTON We supply school supplies for elementary school children.

RYAN Donation to needy

SALLISAW With a high poverty level, there is a huge focus on helping

SEMINOLE We will continue to assist with Meals on Wheels and to work with Mama's Christ Van to fulfill the needs of the homeless.

SHARON Continue with the food pantry an serving any way in which we can

SHAWNEE BETHEL We collect and distribute food for the less fortunate and homeless. We will continue with our blessing box and also collect clothing to donate to the homeless population.

SHAWNEE ST PAUL'S We are very engaged in our community looking toward impacting poverty. We serve a fairly large contingent of people in poverty through our Mission Post, snack sacks, community meal, hygiene kits, providing coats/raincoats seasonally, pet food and our monthly missions such as school supplies and the diaper drive last month. We respond well to various community needs as they arise.

SHAWNEE WESLEY Our church has always been a very mission driven congregation. Recently, our Mission Committee has been revitalized to dream about what we need to

be doing locally and regionally in the area of missions. We have an endowment that is used to help fund this ministry.

SHIDLER We have a mobile food truck that comes once a month for anyone in the community with no restrictions, we provide a thrift store for people to shop that is very reasonably priced, the thrift store gives free coats, hats and scarfs away in the winter, they occasionally give bags of clothes away for free, we offer a free dinner and movie night once a month and we have a good pantry for those in need.

SKEDEE the church is willing to help those in need

SKIATOOK Our after-school program is licensed by the DHS and offers tuition assistance to those who need it. We have provided financial assistance with utility bills and emergency housing to individuals in desperate need in our community on several occasions.

SPENCER We have helped gather food for the pantry and gloves/hats for then elementary school. We participated in The Angel Tree last year and hope to do it again this year.

STERLING The Sterling United Methodist Church continues to impact poverty in the community by providing meals for shut-ins in our community once a week. Our church has also taken donations for sick patience's in the community. We have also given garage sale items to people in need.

STILLWATER FIRST FUMC Stillwater has continued our mission and ministry to impact poverty in our community. Community dinner, work days at Our Daily Bread, Weekend Foodsacks for Kids, Getting Ahead Courses are just a few examples of what we are doing to impact poverty in our community.

STILLWATER HIGHLAND PARK Rev. Dane Lemmons has brought several messages related to poverty, and we have had discussions on a big way that we can make an impact on poverty in our community. We have some lofty goals and will continue to

have discussions on how we can make these a reality.

STILWELL Food pantry support.

STROUD We orchestrated Brown Bag blessing and with the help of the ministerial alliance, we managed to feed over 130 children five meals per child per week throughout the Summer. We also run a coat drive every Summer. Our pastor plans to attend an upcoming communities impacting poverty workshop where we hope to gain more ideas.

TAHLEQUAH Providing meals 5 days a week for the homeless, coats and glove drives in the early winter months Feed my sheep program every Thursday and working with the county and Cherokee Nation to provide warming stations in the winter and cooling stations in the summer

TECUMSEH Community Garage Sale, Blankets for Foster Children, Thanksgiving family and Christmas family, Coats for Kids.

TEMPLE We give shoes to the community kids who most are from low income families

THACKERVILLE In the past, we have distributing food baskets at Thanksgiving in Christmas.

TISHOMINGO We have donated food to the local food bank; donated school supplies to the elementary school; and donated personal care items to the high school for needy high school students. Meals and snacks are offered at discipleship group meetings. We will continue to do these things and hopefully more in the coming year.

TONKAWA FIRST TUMC helps Tonkawa's community with their food insecurities and we help our local school students. Our family center building is home to our local food bank. We help out when local food needs are higher than usual. Our members help provide items for the annual Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets. TUMC also stocks a food Blessing Box outside our church building. Our local school counselors contact our church when they have students that need some assistance and we provide all that we can.

TUMC is committed to doing all that we can to make sure food and other necessary items are available to all that need them.

TULSA BOSTON AVE Please see the story under Mission Field. We also have Blessing Boxes that are continually stocked by our members and Sunday School Classes.

TULSA COMMUNITY BROOKSIDE We partner with Restore Hope and a local elementary school to provide students with needs like backpacks, Thanksgiving food drives, and Christmas Angel Tree.

TULSA LAKE Food and clothing drives Community dinners on holidays

TULSA LAKE Food shelter clothing and moral support

TULSA SOUTHERN HILLS Members and our Pastor attended Communities Impacting Poverty training. our Outreach programs are designed to reach young families with children

TULSA ST MARKS Our weekly Food Pantry and homeless ministry. This year, we plan to provide more access to other community based agencies.

TULSA ST PAUL'S As previously discussed, we expanded our Manna Meals program and added distribution of new socks, which brought delightful reactions from recipients. We also served hot meals at the Tulsa Day Center throughout the year. An active member also coordinated and facilitated a training session 'How to Start a Recovery Program'.

TULSA WEST TULSA Continue to serve meals to the needy in our area and increase the number of meals we provide weekly.

UNION CITY We currently help with paying unpaid lunches, water bills and rent in some instances in our township.

VERDIGRIS We do support the students with school supply drive and pay off school lunchroom debt. We are exploring ways to become a food for kids partner to insure kids have food in summers and school holidays.

VIAN Help local food pantries. Share information and work with local church's.

VICI Blessing Box and continue with the project.

WAKITA Because out local grocery store has closed we feel the need to help out the local Food Pantry, we also have a member to goes and gets the food for the Food Pantry.

WALTERS Food pantry is our main way to help the impoverished community, Weekend meals, angel tree ministry during Christmas for children who's parents are incarcerated, and we take up offering Heifer International and for natural disasters .

WANETTE We offer free food via the Blessing Box. Two of our members are signed up for the upcoming poverty workshop.

WARNER We serve two community meals a month and provide grocery assistance to those in need. We also have a mission fund that helps with emergency expenses.

WATONGA With the funds available in the church's Needy Family Fund we serve the community through lodging if needed, supplying food for families, assisting with utility bills. For the most part we do not turn anyone away when a request is made to help the poor.

WAURIKA school supplies

WEATHERFORD FIRST Weatherford FUMC is a member of the Good Neighbor Fund. We participated in the workshop so we can apply for a grant to address areas we identify for impact. We also designate a small portion of our offerings for GNF.

WELLSTON Continue our work with the food bank. Work with the schools to meet specific needs.

WEWOKA The Compassionate Care Ministry of the cchurcj was expanded in 2024 to include a stronger emergency food pantrdy available to all who come to the door. The care team actdivly sees people on the street who may need help. The ministry is staffd every Tuesday am and available by appointment. A bdridge has been created to other agencies and information hared with those needing assistance who come to us. The church

computer is available to help people respond to job openings and signup for utility services. We have an active prayer team.

WHEATLAND Our advent collection is to be used to aid in this area. We will also be contacting the Sober Living facility being built near the church to determine what assistance we can provide.

WILBURTON We have started working with the community and other leaders to learn about resources and who already has certification and training in "Bridges out of Poverty." We plan to start Bridges groups in pods, starting with community leaders.

WILLOW We plan on reaching out to the community and providing support in aiding those in need as needs present themselves.

WOODWARD FAITH We support the Pregnancy Center, the Hope Center and food and clothing for the homeless shelter. We provide meals at the Grace Outreach community kitchen and Meals on Wheels. The UWF is very active in providing resources to various groups in town.

WOODWARD NEW HORIZON We have members active in the food bank. We support the community food pantry and we stock the blessing box. We participate in the DHS Portal and we support the Circle of Care home in the community.

YALE Sponsor Daily Bread once a month and Health Mobile

YUKON GOOD SHEPHERD The church supports this initiative by volunteering and supporting the community in various ways such as Regional FoodBank of Oklahoma, Canyon Camp, local elementary schools, mission trips, Angel Tree, Kairos, etc.

Call to Action