The Mission Outreach Committee

General Information

The Mission Outreach Committee is a standing committee at CUMC.  We normally meet on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 6pm in the Community Room. If business is not pressing, we may skip one or more months, and take care of business via email.

We believe that God has blessed us with the resources that we, as individuals, families and our church, have, and it is our Christian responsibility to share those resources with those in need locally, regionally, and internationally. We welcome the ideas that you may have and the participation of new members who may be interested. And we are so deeply grateful of the generosity of our congregants who make our donations possible to those in need.

Meetings are open to any congregants.  As for membership, we encourage interested people to contact the church office (office@cedarburgcumc.org) for more information. For the sake of voting and keeping meetings on track, we prefer to have a specific, approved list of committee members.

Responsibilities

The Outreach Committee is responsible for managing the funds budgeted by the church to support outreach opportunities. Support provided by this group on behalf of the church falls into three general categories: local ministries, regional and U.S. missions, and international missions.

Local ministries include Cope, United Way, Family Promise, Advocates of Ozaukee County, Ozaukee Jail Literacy, Interfaith Care Givers, Portal Industries, Habitat for Humanity, Starting Point, Big Brothers / Big Sisters, Meta House, and New Beginnings Are Possible.

Regional missions include Northcott Neighborhood House, United Methodist Children's Services, Harbor House Crisis Center, Hunger Task Force, and Red Bird School and Clinic.

International missions include Eurasia Missionary Support and various church and humanitatian projects in Senegal, Haitia, and India.

Easter Offering

Each year the Mission Outreach Committee selects one or two mission projects to receive the donations that come in on Easter Sunday. This year we have selected the UMCOR International Disaster Response and Recovery fund, which will benefit those in Ukraine, and the Whitewater Community Space Project.

We have supported the UMCOR project in the past and in various ways,
but the Community Space project is new, so here is a brief description of it.

The UMC in Whitewater is very involved in the Community Space Project. Community Space provides support to immigrants who come to the Whitewater area, most of whom are from Venezuela or Nicaragua. More than 1,000 immigrants have come to the Whitewater area in the past year or so.
They are hard-working people who get jobs, work hard, and put their children in school.
Yet having left everything behind in their old homes, they have many needs.

Community Space helps these people get established. It helps pay for medical needs and utilities. It has a food pantry and clothing area to provide for those who need help. Many of the immigrants need bedding, linens, pillows, etc., and Community Space helps to provide those items for them.

One-half of our Easter Offering will be donated to the Community Space Project, and one-half to help those in Ukraine. You can be an important part of providing for those in need by donating generously on Easter Sunday.

Thank you for your generosity!

Second Quarter Coin Offering

The second quarter Coin Offering will be donated to the Northcott Neighborhood House Summer Camp Scholarship Program. You might notice that the first quarter Coin Offering also went to this project. Because the donations to the Coin Offering have dropped to such a small level, we decided to collect for this project for six months rather than for the normal three-month period.

The donation that we provide to Northcott will allow a number of young people to attend the summer camp on scholarship, and will allow them to attend when they otherwise could not have done so.
When getting ready for church on Sunday mornings, please remember to collect your loose coins and drop them in the offering.

Current and Ongoing Projects

Ongoing
Aluminum Can Drive

Our can collecton for El Porvenir Water and Sanitation Program in Nicaragua brought in $24.20. So far in 2023, we have earned $77.96. Thank you to all who have been saving cans! 

Meta House
Lunch Making

Lunches for the women of Meta House are made and packed on a monthly basis. There are a couple of ways you can help with this project.

First, please feel free to join us when we make the lunches. This happens right after the 10:15 a.m. church service, and it only takes about 30 minutes. We meet in the kitchen to make sandwiches and pack bag lunches. Our next lunch packing days will be held on Sunday, January 21, February 18, March 17.    
 
You may also help by offering financial support. Food for a full week of lunches costs approximately $130, or less if we are packing for only one, two, or three days.

If you are interested in helping, please contact the church office (office@cedarburgcumc.org).

Rainbow Covenant Designation

CUMC has once again met the criteria for designation as a Rainbow Covenant Church for 2022. This is a designation that is awarded to those Wisconsin Conference UMC churches who have met their full apportionment, have given to local missions, Special Sunday giving, Conference projects, National projects, International projects, In-Mission Together projects, UMCOR, and have supported a Covenant Relationship missionary.

On average, only about 25% of the Conference churches earn this designation in any given year. CUMC has met the criteria every year that the Rainbow Covenant designation has existed.

United Methodist Missionary, Temba Nkomozepi

Our church supports Mujilla Falls and its missionary, Temba Nkomozepi. Temba is from Zimbabwe, and was commissioned as a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries in 2017.

Temba will continue Mujila Falls projects in agriculture, education, and health projects, as well as church growth and development. He has committed to helping bring together the perfect environment and inputs to grow crops and improve people’s livelihoods.

The Outreach Committee asks that you keep Temba and all the people at Mujila Falls in your prayers. 

Family Promise of Ozaukee County

Family Promise works to rebuild lives with compassion by providing resources and services to individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin.

They strive to create a safe and secure environment and are dedicated to helping families regain housing, independence, and their dignity.

Through partnerships with local businesses, organizations, and congregations, they are able to offer their services to those in need.

Their new homeless shelter opened in Ozaukee County. Family Promise teamed up with the county to open Portlight Shelter. We provide meals for the the families at the shelter every few months. Please contact the office if you would like to help with providing meals.




Food Drives 

Please bring food donations to our entry-way baskets as we continuously collect food to stock local food pantries. Monthly donations alternate between Northcott Neighborhood House, and Family Sharing of Ozaukee County.

Northcott's mission is to support family stability, provide educational and recreational programs for youth, lessen neighborhood tensions, combat community deterioration, and provide various social services for the residents of Harambee and surrounding neighborhoods.

Family Sharing is a nonprofit community organization that provides food to people in need in Ozaukee County. All donations of food are distributed directly to those who need it, at no charge. In addition, they provide clothing, furniture, household items, school supplies, new winter jackets for children, and information and referrals.

Coin Drive

Small coins = BIG change

Find the Coin Donation Box in the entry-way and empty your pockets! Your change makes a difference for some great  programming!

Each quarter a different program is selected. Change, even a few coins at a time, adds up to big change.

The fourth quarter Coin Offering will go to support the Harbor House Homeless Shelter in Superior, Wisconsin. This is a United Methodist mission that addresses the need in the Superior/Duluth area.

While Harbor House needs various personal hygiene items for both men and women, we have decided to collect coins to help them meet those needs. So, coins collected for our fourth quarter offering will be sent to Harbor House so they can use them to meet their needs as they see fit.

When you consider throwing your loose change into the offering each Sunday, please consider adding just a little bit. A normal quarterly collection brings in about $80.00. But if each of us were to add 25 cents each week, we could boost that to almost double that amount.

Thank you for your continued generosity.

Mr. Bob's
Under The Bridge Ministry

Hotel-sized hygiene items, such as soap, shampoo, lotion, etc., are collected tems for this outreach program.

This program is dedicated to helping the homeless in the greater Milwaukee area. Items are collected and made into care packets and then distributed to the homeless living under the viaducts, in empty warehouses, and on the streets in Milwaukee.

We will once again be participating in sorting clothing for Mr. Bob's Under the Bridge Ministry on Thursday, November 16. We will work from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Ozaukee Volunteer Center at 2360 Dakota Drive in Grafton.

While this may not seem like much, the clothing and personal hygiene items that Mr. Bob provides to the homeless in Milwaukee is so important. And the items can not be provided if they are not first sorted. So the one hour of volunteer work that you do does, in fact, make a significant impact on the homeless population of Milwaukee.

If we are serious about “helping the least of these” and treating all as God’s children, then please consider taking one hour of your time to help this important mission.

There is a sign-up on the kiosk in Fellowship Hall for those interested in working on October 12. Because of the limited workspace available in the warehouse, we are limited to no more than 5 volunteers. But please…help us make sure that we DO, in fact, have volunteers.
 

Red Bird Mission 

Collect Campbell’s Soup labels and Box Tops for Education and drop them in the basket in the entry-way to support Red Bird Mission and Clinic.

This organization has been providing ministries in the region of the Appalachian Mountains since 1921. Today the need remains critical in this isolated, rural, distressed area. Chronic poverty, lack of jobs, poor housing, and rugged, mountainous terrain provide obstacles to a fuller life for the residents of this area.

Red Bird Mission and Clinic strives to meet these needs through ministry in five areas: Education, Health and Wellness, Community Outreach, Economic Opportunity, and Community Housing Improvement.

Midwest Mission Distribution Center 

Midwest Mission Distribution Center, a disaster relief facility, is a caring ministry related to the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and the North Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. MMDC is also a cooperating depot in the UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) Relief Supply Network.

We support MMDC with disaster relief supplies and monetary donations. 

Northcott/United Methodist Children Services Clothing Drive

Northcott Neighborhood House and United Methodist Children’s Services make clothing available to their program participants.

Please bring clean, lightly worn clothing for men, women, and children to the Outreach closet during this collection period. Clothing will be distributed to both organizations.

• Please use sturdy bags

• Clothes with stains or missing buttons are not accepted

• Please, no shoes

Thank you for your kind donations!

Hunger Task Force - Food Sort

Cedarburg Community United Methodist partners with Mequon United Methodist Church in sorting food donations at the Hunger Task Force warehouse once
a year.

Everyone over 12 years of age is welcome, but one adult for every three students is required.  You must wear closed-toe shoes and should wear old clothes and long pants. 

Learn more about the ministries, organizations, and missions we support

El Porvenir

Meta House

United Methodist Missionary

Northcott Neighborhood House

Family Sharing of Ozaukee County

United Methodist Children's Services (UMCS)

Midwest Mission Distribution Center

Harbor House

Mr Bob's Under the Bridge

United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

Hunger Task Force

Red Bird Mission